Trade
Canada Set to Intervene in Dockworker Dispute to Keep Ports Open
- Dockworkers have twice rejected negotiated agreements
- Government says it’s ready for ‘all options’ to end dispute
A picket line at the Neptune Terminal at the Port of Vancouver during a strike in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, earlier this month.
Photographer: Jimmy Jeong/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Canada’s federal government is poised to intervene in a labor dispute to ensure that the country’s busiest port remains open after dockworkers rejected a mediated agreement for the second time this month.
Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan Jr. said that he’s directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to determine whether the dockworker union’s rejection of the deal has eliminated the possibility of a negotiated resolution. If so, the government can either impose a new collective agreement on the parties or final binding arbitration, he said.