Canada moves to end port lockouts and orders binding arbitration

OTTAWA, Ontario — Canada’s labor minister said Tuesday he is intervening to end lockouts of workers at the country’s two biggest ports.

Labor Minister Steven Mackinnon said the negotiations have reached an impasse and he is directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the resumption of all operations at the ports of Vancouver and Montreal and move the talks to binding arbitration.

Port of Montreal’s workers were locked out Sunday and workers in Vancouver on the Pacific Coast have been locked out since Nov. 4.

“There is a limit to the economic self destruction that Canadians are prepared to accept,” MacKinnon said. “In the face of economic self destruction there is an obligation to intervene. As minister of labor that responsibility falls to me.”

MacKinnon said $1.3 billion Canadian dollars ($930 million) of goods is affected every day. He said it was impacting supply chains, the economy and Canada's reputation as reliable trading partner.

Business groups had been calling for government intervention to get the flow of goods moving again.

The move to end the stoppages comes after the government stepped in to end halted operations at Canada’s two main railways in August.

MacKinnon says he hopes operations can be restored in a matter of days.

The Maritime Employers Association locked out 1,200 longshore workers at the Port of Montreal on Sunday after workers voted to reject what employers called a final contract offer. The workers were seeking raises of 20% over four years.

The job action came after port workers in British Columbia were locked out amid a labor dispute involving more than 700 longshore supervisors, resulting in a paralysis of container cargo traffic at terminals on the West Coast.