Vancouver: British Columbia’s port workers have voted almost 75 per cent in favour of accepting a contract offer, ending weeks of turbulent job action that stopped billions of dollars’ worth of goods from being shipped.
In a statement on the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada website, president Rob Ashton says the results of the latest ratification vote came in 74.66 per cent in favour of the agreement.
Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan confirmed in a tweet that both the ILWU and the BC Maritime Employers Association have ratified the deal, ending the dispute.
O’Regan says, however, that he is directing federal officials to review the entire case to avoid a port disruption of this magnitude from happening in the future.
The employers association says in a statement that it ratified the four-year deal, which “includes increases in wages, benefits and training that recognizes the skills and efforts of B.C.’s waterfront workforce,” on Monday.
No further details of the agreement have been announced.
The results come after two days of voting this week by full union membership, following the union and employers jointly announcing a tentative agreement last Sunday night.
The approval of the contract, which covers about 7,400 workers, comes after the union rejected a mediated settlement twice in July _ once through the group’s leadership caucus, another by full membership.
The last full membership vote rejecting a deal on July 28 led to O’Regan directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to assess if a negotiated deal was still possible, and if not, the board was directed to impose a new deal or binding arbitration.
The Canadian Press
