Fears of supply chain disruption are mounting as talks over a port strike in BC stall

Consumers and smaller businesses will feel the impact of the dockers’ strike in British Columbia, business groups warn, as the docks that handle a good chunk of Canada’s traded goods remain closed.

Industry associations say the job drive of 7,400 waterfront workers that began Saturday will back up shipments, deplete supplies and raise prices for goods that are less available.

Dock workers left their jobs before negotiations over wages, automation and outsourcing stalled in ports that handle 16 percent of the country’s total traded goods.

Small and medium-sized businesses will be most affected, as they have fewer resources and less clout to lean on, said Dennis Darby, head of Canada’s Manufacturers and Exporters trade group.

“Companies don’t have huge inventories, as we learned during the pandemic,” Darby said, adding that some can only hold out for a few days.

“They may have contracts with their customers and they don’t have the ability to pass on [cost] increasing,” he added. But for those who can, “it only adds to the potential inflationary effect.”

While entire contracts can be jeopardized if products aren’t delivered on time, undelivered perishables can also mean retailers are losing sales and “significant revenue,” says Jasmin Guenette, vice president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Bob Ballantyne, senior advisor and former president of the Freight Management Association of Canada, said consumers could eventually see higher prices in industries ranging from apparel to autos.

“The fact that so many goods come in the way of retail [East Asia] these days – from China and Vietnam and Korea – means retailers, and of course consumers, are going to be hugely impacted,” said Ballantyne.

“The squeeze will be felt very broadly across the Canadian economy.”

The flow of auto parts and building materials into Canada will also slow, causing already congested supply chains to growl, he said. “People have been waiting for vehicles and this will make that situation worse in the short to medium term.”

Meanwhile, exporters could soon face a storage crisis and possible temporary closures.

“If they are industries with a continuous process like some chemical industries, shutting down those activities is a big problem and costs a lot of money,” said Ballantyne.

Companies that produce commodities such as timber, fertilizer and sulfur are all facing a halt to overseas shipments from West Coast ports.

Grain products continue to flow abroad, in accordance with the rules of the Canada Labor Code.

Jurisdiction for maintenance

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada said its jurisdiction over maintenance is being eroded by the use of contractors. The employers’ refusal to agree to “one sentence” of a maintenance document marks a major sticking point, it said.

The BC Maritime Employers Association said Tuesday that the union is seeking to “aggressively expand” its control over maintenance tasks, well beyond an agreement that the association says has been “well enshrined in law for decades.”

Business organizations and officials in Alberta and Saskatchewan have called on Ottawa to step in and end the strike, but Federal Labor Secretary Seamus O’Regan has said he wants the union and employers to return to the negotiating table after being in a have reached an impasse. this week.