CTA-BCTA battle rule requiring union rates to owner-ops
VANCOUVER — B.C. drayage carriers are concerned that Ottawa’s proposal forcing them to pay independent owner-ops union-type rates would send a “disturbing message” to other “disgruntled and disenfranchised groups.”
In a letter to Transport Canada, the B.C. Trucking Association and the Canadian Trucking Alliance warned against enacting a pending regulation that requires non-unionized owner-operators — who are currently subject to the rates of remuneration under the “memorandum” licensing system — be “compensated at the equivalent of any rate that has been established in a collective agreement that applies to unionized owner-operators.”
The federal government says the new measures are necessary to preserve the stability of container trucking operations at Lower Mainland ports upon expiry of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in August 2007. The MOA was first implemented by the government in 2006 to end a six-week strike by independent port truckers, then represented by the ad-hoc Vancouver Container Truckers’ Association.
That group showed itself again last week, organizing convoy protests in the Lower Mainland. In its demands for independent owner-ops, the VCTA indicated it wanted a “closed shop” in the sector with a guaranteed minimum rate.
Although BCTA and CTA conceded that the practical implications of this proposed regulation are likely minor — since a recent amendment to the licensing system prohibits any new carrier from entering the local drayage market without company-owned equipment and employees — the two trucking groups warned that the rule would encourage groups in other sectors to try and get the federal government to establish guaranteed compensation.
“Establishing compensation levels for owner-operators in this sector may cause other groups to use illegal means to blockade commerce or destabilize one or another component of the national transportation system in order to achieve the same type of reward being offered under this proposed regulation,” the letter stated.
“This regulation provides the means for the Government of Canada to be held economic hostage by any group which dares to block or otherwise prevent the use of border crossing or major transportation hub.”
Despite support from this Conservative government for deregulated markets, Ottawa, “through its actions in this dispute, (has) signaled that it is willing to turn back the clock.”
BCTA and its national representative also questioned the legality of Ottawa’s move, which they say contravenes Canada’s national transportation policy.
Furthermore, the proposed regulation is impractical in several ways, the letter explains. For one thing, it would include all trucking companies operating into and out of port property, including long-haul carriers and those contracting with owner-operators paid on an hourly basis.
“Neither of these groups were part of the August 2005 disruption. In fact, an arbitration decision was made on August 19, 2005 determining that the MOA rate structure did not apply to (long-haul) companies transporting containers to and from locations outside the Lower Mainland.”
Additionally, the proposal does not consider the potential administrative burden for companies having to set up a different compensation model for some contractors or for certain aspects of their operations that “may be unnecessarily burdensome.”
The trucking associations also demand clarification of what the proposal defines as a union rate to be paid to owner-ops. “There are a wide variety of union contracts evident in this sector. Such ambiguity will lead to confusion and not necessarily resolve the problem as intended by this proposed regulation,” the letter points out.
The trucking groups clearly oppose the new rule, but add that if the government insists on following through, it should only implement it for only a year, so that stabilizing factors that “are already in play or are to be introduced (have) more time to coalesce.” During that time, says BCTA-CTA, Transport Canada should conduct research on the stability on marketplace, which to date has not occurred.
The closing date for comments is July 19, 2007. The federal government is expected to make a final decision on the regulation shortly thereafter.
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