Singh says NDP will not support back-to-work legislation to end BC Port Strike

Jagmeet Singh said the Trudeau administration will not get any help from the federal New Democrat Party (NDP) in passing legislation to end a strike by longshoremen in British Columbia.

NDP leader Singh made the remarks on July 4 in a statement saying his party would “oppose legislation to return to work”.

“We would refuse,” 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.”

According to Blacklock’s Reporter in a July 5 article, Parliament has closed disputes over Pacific ports using emergency legislation nine times in the past 50 years.

The latest strike saw about 7,400 workers from more than 30 ports in BC quit their jobs on Canada Day, demanding higher wages and benefits against automation and outsourcing.

Vancouver harbour, Canada largest port, handled 141 million tons of cargo last year, according to her Financial report 2022including grain, coal, potash, sulfur and nearly 334,000 vehicles.

Mr Singh issued the statement shortly after the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association said no progress was being made in negotiations with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to end the strike that began on July 1.

“The association has gone as far as possible on key issues,” he said.

Both parties have issued statements pointing to disagreement over a maintenance agreement as the reason why talks are off.

According to the union, jobs have been lost due to “the devastation of port automation” and workers want wage adjustments for inflation.

For its part, the employer group said the median salary for a longshoreman in BC was $136,000 last year.

Past strikes

In 2019, during a railroad strike by 3,200 Teamsters at Canadian National Railways Co., Mr. Singh similarly that his party would oppose any attempt to push through emergency legislation. In the end, that labor dispute was settled without parliament passing a bill.

At the time, Mr Singh said, “Workers have a right and a right to be able to strike.”

“They should be able to express their concerns and negotiate freely and they should not be forced to go back to work at all,” he told reporters.

He said the NDP was “against the back-to-work legislation and there is no way it would accelerate that. In fact, we would discourage that as a process. We want people to be able to negotiate freely without that kind of pressure.”

Parliament previously used return-to-work legislation to end strikes and lockouts by BC grain handlers and longshoremen in 1995, 1994, 1991, 1988, 1986, 1982, 1975, 1974 and 1972. The legislation of 1972 followed a closure of the Port of Vancouver that lasted 21 days for most of August of that year.

Parliament last used legislation to return to work in 2018, to end rotating postal strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and in 2021 to end a dockers strike in the port of Montreal.

“Disruptions create challenges for Canadians to access key raw materials,” a labor department memo said in the Montreal dispute at the time.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.