VANCOUVER — The labor unrest that has plagued the Port of Vancouver recently might be a thing of the past.

A few weeks ago it seemed the federal government’s decision not to extend a controversial interim licence scheme at the Vancouver Port could have provoked independent container haulers to strike again.

Instead, say some observers, by permanently transferring authority over rates and working conditions for owner-ops to the Vancouver Port Authority, the Tories have solidified the labor conditions that have maintained peace since last year‚s wildcat strike by 1,200 independent container haulers.

Those conditions — based on government mediator Vince Ready’s recommendation that carriers who were a party to last year’s dispute raise rates and hand over fuel surcharges to contracted drivers — could only have been extended by an order in council one final time.

In an odd confluence of carriers and unions,
labour peace may have been cemented at VanPort

“They’ve actually done one better,” says Stu Shields, national representative of the Canadian Auto Workers, which now represents about half the independent truckers who parked their trucks last year under the auspices of the ad-hoc Vancouver Container Truckers Association. “They’ve actually brought stability to the ports.”

A handful of trucking companies beg to differ. Reportedly a few drayage firms that have managed to avoid collective bargaining with the CAW have launched a legal challenge on the basis the VPA doesn’t have the authority to continue enforcing the so-called Ready memorandum without the legislative backing of an order in council.

Although a victory by the carriers could technically bring down the Ready licence system, Shields doesn’t think it’ll proceed that far. That’s because, in an odd confluence of friends and enemies, an increasing number of drayage firms have agreed to CAW unionization of their contracted owner-ops to ensure long-term stability at the port.

Furthermore, the balance of the former VCTA drivers not currently under the CAW umbrella are on the verge of receiving certification, including owner-ops contracted to one of the three major carriers launching the challenge against the VPA.

“So (the challenge) is moot because the company has to barter an agreement with us. Once you bargain a collective agreement, the Ready recommendations are history,” says Shields.

In fact, he adds, with almost all the independents possibly under union representation in the near future, the Ready-inspired system — although still acting as the framework for CAW contracts — is effectively trumped.

Coleman Tokie of KTL Transport — one of the larger Vancouver drayage firms with 76 owner-ops — was as skeptical as any other carrier when the CAW came to him. Looking back, voluntarily negotiating with the union was the best move he could have made, he says.

“It was the only real solution open to us,” he tells Today’s Trucking. “After being compelled to abide by the Ready plan, of which we were originally reluctant signatories, it became obvious that some small form of regulation was essential.”

— Read the full story in the upcoming June print issue of Today’s Trucking magazine