Day six of the west coast Canadian port strikes and the pressure is growing on the federal government to intervene to resolve a contract dispute between employers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada.
Railway giant Canadian Pacific Kansas City has put a temporary hold on export traffic heading to the port of Vancouver as talks broke down between the ILWU and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) over a contract that expired in late March. The two sides remain deadlocked in contract negotiations over maintenance work.
The BCMEA yesterday suggested binding arbitration was the best way to end the strike. The employers said that if the union agreed to binding arbitration “port operations could resume quickly, critical goods could begin to flow again and there would be immediate stability and restoration to Canada’s supply chain operations.”
Danish analysts at eeSea have started to notice vessel bunching off the west coast with more boxships waiting outside Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
