Unions contest government intervention in major labor disputes in the railways and ports

Three unions are now challenging the federal government’s recent decisions to intervene in major labor disputes, saying it undermines workers’ rights.

The union representing locked-out dockworkers in Montreal announced last Wednesday that it plans to challenge Ottawa’s intervention in court, not long after the union representing locked-out dockworkers in B.C. announced its intention to fight back.

“We will challenge this order in court. We will fight the arbitrated forced contract in court,” Frank Morena, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship & Dock Foremen Local 514, which represents workers in B.C., said in a news release Tuesday.

Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon intervened Tuesday to get the ports of British Columbia and Montreal moving again after employers locked out workers. He ordered the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the resumption of all activities and move both sets of talks to binding arbitration.

On Wednesday, the BC Maritime Employers Association said the board issued an order to resume operations Thursday at the province’s container terminals “and continue operations and duties” until “a final decision” is made in the dispute.

The employers’ association said forwarding functions will restart for the day shift, while terminal operations and maintenance could begin at 4:30 p.m., depending on “operational realities.”

BC’s employers also said the board has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 18 to hear from both sides of the dispute “on certain questions that have arisen regarding ministerial direction” on ordering an end to the work stoppage.

Container freight traffic at West Coast terminals had been halted since last week after a labor dispute involving more than 700 longshore supervisors led to an employer lockout.

In Montreal, the Maritime Employers Association locked out 1,200 port sector workers on Sunday evening after workers rejected what employers called a final contract offer.

“Negotiated agreements are the best path forward, but we cannot allow other Canadians to suffer if certain parties fail to fulfill their responsibility to reach an agreement,” MacKinnon said in a statement Tuesday.

He said he had not taken the decision to intervene lightly, but that the disruptions posed a real economic risk.

“It is my duty and responsibility to act in the best interests of businesses, workers, farmers, families and all Canadians.”

The mechanism used by the minister – using Section 107 of the Canada Labor Code – is the same mechanism the government used in August when Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out more than 9,000 workers, keeping railroad operations to a minimum. to stand still throughout the country.

Labor experts said at the time that the move appeared to be a solution that would negate the need for back-to-work legislation, warning that it could set a dangerous precedent.

“The reason why it is a worrying solution is because there is no parliamentary debate. There is no vote in the House of Commons,” Brock University labor professor Larry Savage said in a September interview with The Canadian Press, calling it “very controversial.”

The move led to a lawsuit by the Teamsters Canada union.

Now the unions representing Montreal and B.C. dockworkers say they plan to challenge the minister’s intervention in court this week.

In a press release Tuesday, Morena called the government’s decision an insult to the union and to workers’ bargaining rights.

In the rail and port disputes, business groups called on the government to act as the robberies disrupted supply chains across the country.

On Tuesday, Bridgitte Anderson, chair of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said in a statement that an estimated $6.1 billion in trade at B.C.’s ports had been disrupted.

“The economic toll of the fourth major disruption to our supply chains has been severe,” she said.

Unions and trade union groups have largely denounced the government’s recent interventions.

“Unions will fight this to the end,” François Laporte, national president of Teamsters Canada, said in a statement Tuesday.

McGill University sociology professor Barry Eidlin said Tuesday that the government’s decision to intervene is eroding the incentive for employers to reach an agreement at the bargaining table.

“The purpose of the lockout was not to put pressure on the workers; it was to put pressure on the government to intervene,” he said.

In the summer of 2023, a strike by several dock workers in BC lasted 13 days. The government did not intervene in that dispute using Article 107. Earlier this year, the country announced an investigation into that strike to prevent further major economic disruptions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.

Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press