Union members at B.C. ports have rejected a mediated tentative deal after their leadership agreed last week to accept the pact.
Eligible voters of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) turned down the four-year agreement drafted by a federal mediator, who recommended the deal after talks stalled at the bargaining table.
“We call on our direct employers to come to the table and negotiate something that works for our members and the industry,” ILWU president Rob Ashton said in a statement late Friday night in Vancouver.
About 7,400 members of the ILWU
halted their 13-day strike on July 13, and then
held a 24-hour walkout last week. Eligible ILWU voters at five longshore locals did not include casual workers, who make up a large portion of the work force.
“The ILWU Canada voting membership have rejected the four-year tentative agreement that was proposed by the senior federal mediator and recommended for ratification by the ILWU bargaining committee and their longshore caucus,” the BCMEA said in a statement.
The BCMEA said the median annual income for longshore workers would have jumped to $162,000 a year, starting in the fourth year of the proposed contact, compared with $136,000 in 2022, not including benefits and pension.
But the ILWU has emphasized that the employers made huge profits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eligible voters of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada turned down the four-year agreement drafted by a federal mediator
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The union has noted three main issues at the bargaining table: Contracting out, cost-of-living wage increases and the impact of automation on job security.
Under the mediated proposal, the signing bonus or “inflation adjustment allowance” would be about $3,000 for a full-time worker.
The annual wage increases total 18 per cent nominally, and work out to a compounded wage hike of 19.2 per cent over four years.
There is also a $15,000 increase, or 18.5-per-cent boost, to a retirement fund that currently has a $81,250 lump-sum payout for eligible new retirees, under the mediated deal.
“The deal also included measures to improve training, recruitment and retention of ILWU trades workers now and in the future,” the BCMEA said. “Specifically, the BCMEA agreed to provide benefit coverage for all casual trades workers, a new tool allowance and a commitment to increase apprentices by a minimum of 15 per cent.”
The union sought a two-year agreement, while employers proposed a four-year pact.
The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade estimates that the first work stoppage led to the disruption of $9.9-billion worth of goods between the morning of July 1 and afternoon of July 13, based on a rate of $800-million a day.