B.C. Government Plans Legislation to End Truckers’ Strike at Port of Vancouver

The British Columbia government plans to introduce back-to-work legislation for drayage truckers on strike at Port Metro Vancouver, Canada’s largest port.

The government is preparing the legislation “with a 90-day cooling off period for 250 truckers who are members of Unifor, with the intention of introduction in the legislature as early as Monday, March 24,” Canada’s Ministry of Transportation said in a statement.

Striking truckers represented by Unifor, Canada’s largest labor union, said in a statement that the legislation “will only make matters worse” in the port dispute.

“A negotiated settlement is the only sustainable solution,” said Paul Johal, president of Unifor-Vancouver Container Truckers Association, which set up pickets March 10 after protests that began at the port by nonunionized drayage truckers Feb. 26.

About 2,000 trucks move items to and from the port, which handled 135 million tons of cargo in 2013, according to its website.