OTTAWA – The weeklong lockout that paralyzed container traffic at Vancouver and seven other western Canadian ports ended at 7:30 p.m. EDT as management and labor accepted a government proposal for arbitration.
Federal Labor Minister Claudette Bradshaw announced in Parliament here that ’both parties have accepted our proposals for settlement.’ Bradshaw did not disclose details of the proposals, but it is known that they involved an arbitrated settlement.
The British Colonial Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said it was lifting the lockout that had idled 2,000 workers beginning on Nov. 7. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) had already agreed to return to work and remain on job until a settlement was reached.
Canada’s federal government had given both parties until just after 5 p.m. EDT to reach an agreement before it introduced legislation ordering the port of Vancouver and smaller British Columbia ports back to work.
Shipments in and out of those ports were stopped after the employers locked out members of the ILWU, who have been without a contract for almost a year.
The lockout was spurred by a disagreement over one port employer’s contract with six non-union inspectors of sulfur shipments. The employers said they could not force the company to hire union or non-union people.
