VANCOUVER (CP) – Unionized dockworkers have officially put the West Coast ports dispute to rest, ratifying the settlement that ended an expensive lockout.
Some 2,200 members of the International Longshore and Warehousemen’s Union voted 74 per cent in favour of an agreement, the union announced today.
The four-year agreement provides wage and benefit increases but does not settle the contentious issue of contracting out, which triggered the lockout.
Under threat of federal back-to-work legislation, the two sides agreed to further talks on the issue.
The eight-day dispute closed all shipping at West Coast ports except bulk grain exports, costing an estimated $100 million a day.
