VANCOUVER, British Columbia — According to Reuters, grain shipments resumed on Sunday from one of two idled ports of Canada’s Pacific coast as workers and management agreed to let labor regulators decide part of their contract dispute.
Locked-out terminal workers from Vancouver on Saturday removed a picket line they had set up on Wednesday outside a terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, handling grain export shipments diverted from Vancouver.
Vancouver and Prince Rupert, which is located about 450 miles (724 km) north of Vancouver, are the only ports on Canada’s Pacific coast with facilities to handle bulk grain exports from the Prairies.
The workers and management will let the Industrial Relations Board hold hearings on a union complaint that the owners of Vancouver’s terminals are improperly using the Prince Rupert facility to force contract concessions.
Prince Rupert’s management argues that although it shares common ownership with the Vancouver facilities, it operates independently and should not be shut down as part of the Vancouver labor dispute.
The Vancouver terminal operators want workers to agree to contract changes on issues such as scheduling and recall rights that the companies say will reduce operating costs and keep the facilities competitive internationally.
The Vancouver terminals locked out the workers on Aug. 25. and there has been only one day of negotiations since. The previous contract expired at the end of 2000.
The terminal owners are Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (Toronto:SWPb.TO – News), Agricore United (Toronto:AU.TO – News), Cascadia Terminal, Pacific Elevators Ltd. and James Richardson International.
The Canadian Wheat Board, the world’s largest marketer of wheat and barley, has demanded the federal government intervene in the contract dispute, which it says is damaging Canada’s reputation as a reliable supplier.
The dispute has not disrupted non-grain shipments through Vancouver, which is Canada’s busiest port.