OTTAWA — As expected, the federal government is attempting to maintain labor stability at the Port of Vancouver and Fraser River with a regulation that ensures independent owner-operators are compensated no less than the rates set out in the Memorandum of Agreement by mediator Vince Ready.

The MOU, which expires in August, was drafted by Ready in 2005 to end the crippling six-week strike by 1,200 independent container haulers. In the guideline, Ready established a base pay structure and other surcharges carrier companies had to pay their contracted operators.

Carriers were forced to sign on to the agreement in order to get a mandated port operating licence issued and enforced by the Vancouver Port Authority.

A pre-published regulation released in June promised that independent owner-ops are to receive rates of remuneration match current collective agreements in the sector as long as the rates are higher than or equal to those established in the MOA.

The port authorities are required to incorporate this measure into their licensing regime.

Ottawa has introduced a regulation that adjusts
independent container truckers’ rates to union contracts.

“The regulation was amended to provide a higher level of stability of rates for independent owner-operators, who during consultations, clearly indicated that rate sustainability is of utmost importance,” said Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

“The MOA may have expired as a living document, but its rates of remuneration that have been so important to this industry for the past two years will continue by way of this regulation.

Changes made to the regulation include “the specific exclusion of owner-operator truckers engaged in the long-haul industry, the requirement that collective agreements be posted on the Vancouver Port Authority’s website, and the requirement that this measure be reviewed by the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities within two years of its coming into force.”

In addition, the regulation was revised to allow independent truckers to compensated according to rates contained in collective agreements that are amended or renegotiated in the future. While the compensation negotiated in these agreements can move upward over time, the rates of remuneration contained in the MOA will remain the minimum that may be paid to independent owner-operators.

The province will develop and manage a fair and effective dispute resolution mechanism to support the new federal regulations. This includes investigation and adjudication of alleged contraventions of rates paid to owner operators, including any allegations of companies undercutting minimum collective agreement rates.

Last year, the province established a stakeholder forum to address concerns of the container truck industry. Since then, a website has been created to support the work of the forum (www.bctruckingforum.bc.ca) including an informational on-line calculator that helps truck owner operators better understand their costs and pay.

Carrier companies are undoubtedly not impressed with the rule, which they’ve been lobbing against for the past few months.

Last week in an unpublished letter to a Lower Mainland newspaper, Landry accused the government of appeasing independent truckers at the expense of carriers in order to put a wet blanket on threats of renewed strikes.

“Container owner-operators are not employees or workers in the normal sense. They are independent contractors or small businesspeople who own and operate their own trucks. They contract themselves and their tractors to trucking companies, maintain and pay the expenses for their vehicles, enjoy the taxation benefits of a small business and decide when and where they are going to work,” he wrote.

“Government chose to appease the owner-operators in 2005 only to be threatened again in 2007 … Maybe it’s time to stand up to the intimidation and assure the public that the full force of the law will be applied to keep our ports open.”

The new regulation will be published in the Canada Gazette II later this week.