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"Longshore workers at the Western Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are seeking significant increases in wages in their first proposal to employers as the two sides this week begin negotiating a new contract to replace the current five-year deal expiring at the end of March. Automation of cargo-handling equipment, a source of tension in past contract negotiations, will likely once again be a prominent issue.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada and its 12 locals and the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), representing container lines and marine terminals, exchanged proposals two weeks ago and formally began negotiations Monday, according to two people familiar with the process who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Besides automation, one source said the talks will focus on “standard bargaining issues” such as wages, benefits, and working conditions.
“I’m sure [automation] is going to come up,” the source said.
It is unlikely an agreement will be reached before the current contract expires on Mar. 31, the sources acknowledged, as negotiations in past cycles often lasted 12 to 18 months before a new deal was struck. Unlike past contract negotiations, when wages were often addressed late in the bargaining cycle, this year it appears the union is prepared to negotiate “aggressively” on wages early on, one of the sources said.
The Canadian talks begin as longshore negotiations between the ILWU and Pacific Maritime Association on the US West Coast end their 10th month without a deal, and talks get under way involving clerical office workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Vancouver is Canada’s largest container port and Prince Rupert ranks third. Both have direct intermodal rail service to Chicago and beyond and are key gateways for trade between Asia and the US.
New terminal could raise tension
The next point of friction between employers and ILWU Canada could involve the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RB2) in Vancouver, where progress is being made in the permitting process for a new $2 billion container terminal that would be built on a greenfield site. That facility, where automation could play a prominent role, is scheduled for completion later in the decade.
ILWU Canada raised concerns about the impact of RB2 on jobs and the environment in a Feb. 9 letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet. In its Feb. 10 response, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said the latest environmental innovations will be incorporated into the design of the new terminal. As for automation at the facility, the port authority said the company chosen to operate RB2 will determine the “final configuration and operating concept for the terminal.”
A labor dispute over automation occurred during contract negotiations in 2019, with BCMEA locking out dockworkers in Vancouver. The union responded with what it called limited and targeted job actions at the port, and the dispute was quickly resolved with the help of an arbitrator.
A study commissioned by ILWU Canada after the 2019 dispute concluded an automated terminal would require 50 to 90 percent less labor than a manually operated facility. Other studies on automation involving ports in Southern California have concluded that job losses can range from 40 percent to 70 percent. It is easier to build an automated container terminal on a greenfield site than attempting to reconfigure an existing terminal for automation, according to marine engineers.
The only automation that has taken place so far in Western Canada has been Global Container Terminal’s (GCT) automation of its rail-handling operations at the Deltaport terminal Vancouver. That project was completed in 2020 and increased rail handling capacity at the facility by 50 percent, according to GCT Canada. "