Jagmeet Singh said the Trudeau government will not be getting any help from the federal New Democrat Party (NDP) in pushing through legislation to end a British Columbia port workers strike.
NDP leader Mr. Singh made the remarks on July 4 in a statement that said his party “would oppose back-to-work legislation.”
“We would decline,” he said. “The New Democratic Party is for negotiated contracts and the right of workers to strike. We call on the parties to settle the dispute at the table.”
Parliament has shut down Pacific port disputes nine times in the past 50 years using emergency legislation, according to Blacklock’s Reporter in an article on July 5.
The latest strike saw about 7,400 workers from more than 30 B.C. ports walk off the job on Canada Day, demanding improved wages and provisions against automation and contracting out.
The Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port, handled 141 million tonnes of cargo last year, according to its 2022 financial report, including grain, coal, potash, sulphur, and nearly 334,000 vehicles.
Mr. Singh issued the statement soon after the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association said there was no progress being made in negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to end that strike that started on July 1.
“The Association has gone as far as possible on core issues,” it said.
Both sides have issued statements pointing to disagreements over a maintenance deal as the reason talks are not moving forward.
According to the union, job losses have occurred following “the devastation of port automation” and workers want wage adjustments for inflation.
The employers’ group, for its part, said the median salary for a longshore worker in B.C. was $136,000 last year.
Past Strikes
In 2019, during a rail strike by 3,200 Teamsters at Canadian National Railways Co., Mr. Singh similarly said his party would oppose any attempt to push through emergency back-to-work legislation. Ultimately that labour dispute was settled without Parliament passing any bill.
At the time, Mr. Singh said, “Workers are entitled and have the right to be able to strike.”
“They should be able to express their concerns and negotiate freely and they should not at all be forced back to work,” he told reporters.
He said the NDP was “opposed to back-to-work legislation, and that it “would not in any way speed that up. In fact we would discourage that as a process. We want people to be able to negotiate freely without that type of pressure.”
Parliament previously used back-to-work legislation to end strikes and lockouts by B.C. grain handlers and longshore workers in 1995, 1994, 1991, 1988, 1986, 1982, 1975, 1974, and 1972. The 1972 legislation followed a shutdown of the Port of Vancouver that lasted 21 days for most of August that year.
Parliament last used back-to-work legislation in 2018, to end rotating mail strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and in 2021, to end a strike by longshore workers at the Port of Montreal.
“Disruptions are creating challenges for Canadians to access key commodities,” said a labour department memo at the time in the Montreal dispute.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
