About 7,000 unionized workers at ports across British Columbia plan to hold a strike vote in the coming days.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada, which is the union that represents the dock workers, says that it plans to hold an official strike vote on June 9 and 10.
The strike vote comes as workers at B.C. ports negotiate a new collective agreement with the B.C. Maritime Employers Association.
The dock workers current labour pact expired on March 30 of this year and the union has been at the bargaining table since February.
The employers’ association, which represents about 50 private-sector employers with interests at ports stretching from Vancouver to Prince Rupert, said that it will continue to negotiate to reach a fair deal with the workers.
The two sides are in a cooling-off period until June 21 after federally mandated conciliation ended on May 30.
Canadian law prevents either side from exercising their right to labour action for 21 days after the end of conciliation.
The earliest possible strike date by the workers’ union is June 24.
British Columbia’s ports are only now starting to normalize after being disrupted for several years by the Covid-19 pandemic.
