#ILWU13 DIS SUMMARY CODE#

In announcing the government’s intervention to break the strike, O’Regan explicitly justified it in the name of protecting the “national interest.” He expanded on this point in a Globe and Mail interview Wednesday, stating, “I worry about the stability of our supply chain if this carries on.” Cynically denying that the Trudeau government was “imposing” an agreement, O’Regan remarked, “I characterized it as a forceful nudge.” In his own statement, O’Regan noted, “The BCMEA and ILWU have accepted the terms of settlement from federal mediators.” That is to say, the union went along with the government-dictated contract lock, stock and barrel. Specifically, we would like to recognize the expertise and unwavering dedication of federal mediator Peter Simpson and his team, who were instrumental in achieving a tentative agreement.” Moreover, the BCMEA was clearly jubilant at the outcome, gushing in its statement, “We would like to express our appreciation to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service officers and the Minister of Labour, Seamus O’Regan Jr., for assisting both Parties throughout this process. The one piece of information made public about the tentative agreement, that it will have a term of four years, was one of the employers’ main demands. Notwithstanding the absence of any details on the agreement, it is beyond doubt that the ILWU has accepted a sellout that meets none of the workers’ demands, including wage increases to keep up with inflation, an end to contracting out and real job protection from automation. Throughout the talks, the BCMEA, which represents 49 private sector employers, including five giant corporations that made more than $100 billion in profits last year alone, smeared the workers as “overpaid” and ridiculed their demands as unacceptable. “(D)etails of the agreement will not be released at this time,” declared the BCMEA in a celebratory statement.

Underscoring the thoroughly anti-democratic character of the entire process, the parties agreed to keep the terms of the agreement secret. Pacific Time, with 10 minutes to spare before the government’s deadline, ILWU Canada President Rob Ashton issued a one-sentence press release announcing the end of the strike. The mediator took little more than half of the 24 allotted hours to draft his proposal, strongly suggesting that the legal mechanism used to impose the government-dictated settlement was discussed extensively in advance.Īt 10:20 a.m. Moreover, as the clock ran down on the 48 hours, government ministers, including Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, railed against the strike’s “intolerable” economic impact. This ultimatum was a back-to-work law in all but name.

#ILWU13 DIS SUMMARY CODE#

On Tuesday evening, federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan announced he was invoking Section 105 (2) of the anti-worker Canada Labour Code and instructing a federal mediator to draft a proposed settlement which the ILWU and BCMEA would then be given 24 hours to accept. It imperils the rights of all workers, as the unions have once again made clear that they will bow to government strikebreaking legislation and even just the threat of it, without a fight. It is an abject surrender, not just to the shipping companies and terminal operators but to the Trudeau government. The union’s shutting down of the dockworkers’ strike is a gross betrayal. The union is now working with the employers to get the 7,400 dockworkers back on the job as soon as possible without their having been apprised of even the key details of the proposed agreement, let alone voting on it. On Thursday morning, the ILWU Canada leadership announced it had reached a tentative four-year agreement with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) based on a proposed settlement drafted by a senior federal mediator and that workers were being ordered to return to work forthwith. Under conditions where the union bureaucracy has bowed to the big business Liberal government and ordered an end to the strike, it is more important than ever that workers break the ILWU gag order.Ĭanada’s trade union-backed Liberal government has succeeded in forcing an end to the 13-day West Coast dockworkers’ strike with the connivance of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). Are you a dockworker in British Columbia? Contact us here or fill out the form at the end of this article to speak out anonymously on your working conditions and voice your views about how your struggle can be won.

Ilwu13 dis summary