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From: Terry M
Category: Category 1
Date: 08 Nov 1999
Time: 20:53:46
Remote Name: 24.113.31.232
B.C. port shuts down WebPosted Sun Nov 7 23:25:58 1999 VANCOUVER - The biggest economic engine on Canada's West Coast sputtered to a halt Sunday night, when more than 2,000 longshoremen were locked out at the Port of Vancouver.
The dock, which handles everything from exports of potash, sulphur, and wheat to imports of cars and electronic appliances, is now shut down.
It's estimated at least $89 million will be lost every day cargo is held up, and if the dispute drags on, stores across Canada could wind up with less stock at Christmas.
Some businesses, including forestry companies, are already calling on Ottawa to step in to settle the dispute before the losses mushroom beyond $1 billion.
"To wait another nine or 10 days could mean the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars to Western producers," says Ron MacDonald, of the Council of Forest Industries.
The fight is not over money -- longshoremen make an average of $62,000 a year, and they've been offered a 9.5 per cent increase.
But their union is determined to maintain jurisdiction over workers at the port.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is furious that one shipper of sulphur has signed a contract with a company that isn't unionized.
With contract talks going nowhere, the B.C. Maritime Employers' Association issued a 72-hour lockout notice last Thursday.
Even though workers were not threatening to strike immediately, the association said in a news release that it had "to bring matters to a head and end the current state of economic uncertainty".
The very possibility of a walkout was already costing the port millions, the association said, because railways and other shippers had started diverting cargo to U.S. ports weeks ago.