Port Metro Vancouver dispute sees illegal use of replacement workers

Employer ordered to pay financial damages to Unifor

The BC Labour Relations Board (BCLRB) ruled trucking company Port Transport made illegal use of replacement workers during the current labour dispute at Port Metro Vancouver.

The BCLRB ordered the company to immediately cease and desist, provide disclosure of dispatch records to Unifor on a weekly basis and make payment of financial damages.

Trucking employees started labour action in November 2015 after being without a contract for 18 months. The drivers shut down Port Metro Vancouver for nearly four weeks in March 2014 in protest of wage undercutting and long wait times.

Only Port Transport and Harbour Link Container Services remain behind picket lines after 75 per cent of truck drivers represented by Unifor ratified collective agreements.

The union’s new contracts with six other trucking companies will expire in July 2019. Under the new agreements, outstanding retro pay will be paid out to drivers within 30 days. The deals also improve rates for CN and CP moves and fix the pay chart for “off dock” moves.

Unifor called the agreements a major step towards stability at Port Metro Vancouver, providing job security protections and improvements to dispatching language.

“Replacement workers don’t solve strikes, they only make matters worse,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s BC area director. “Our members are strong and determined. The only solution here is for these companies to stop the games and sign the pattern deal inked by most of the sector.”

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