Federal government orders binding arbitration to end port lockouts in B.C. and Quebec

OTTAWA — The Liberals are once again stepping into a labour dispute, pushing workers and their employers in Montreal, Vancouver and Quebec City into binding arbitration to end expensive lockouts at Canada’s biggest ports.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced Tuesday he was sending the disputes to arbitration, because the damage to the Canadian economy was simply too great to continue.
It was the second time this year MacKinnon stepped in to end work stoppages. He forced railway workers into binding arbitration in August to end a shutdown that halted rail traffic across the country. He said none of the parties in the port dispute was taking the broader economic picture seriously. 
“These work stoppages are impacting our supply chains, hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs, our economy and our reputation as a reliable and international trading partner,” he said. “Thousands of hardworking Canadians could be laid off if this continues, including thousands of union workers.”
MacKinnon is directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order an end to the lockout. The board is an independent agency and MacKinnon said it could take a few days for them to bring the lockout to an end. 
He used the same process to end the railway dispute and the union representing railway workers has filed legal challenges against that measure. 
MacKinnon said he had heard from many companies that said they would have no choice but to layoff workers because the materials they needed couldn’t be delivered.
Port of Montreal workers were locked out on Sunday night after rejecting what their employer described as a final offer. Vancouver port workers were locked out more than a week ago when they threatened strike action, and Quebec port workers have been locked out for more than two years.
The work stoppages in Montreal and Vancouver shut Canada’s two largest ports, as well as other smaller ports in B.C. Business groups, who called on the government to intervene, said as much as $1.2 billion a day in trade was effectively on hold because of the stoppages.
Federal mediators were sent to both disputes to attempt to resolve the impasses, but MacKinnon said they reported to him that both sides were in a holding pattern.
Unions in Montreal and Vancouver accused their employers of holding out on real negotiations in order to force the government to intervene.
MacKinnon said the government didn’t want to step into any of these disputes and is a friend of labour, pointing to the Liberals’ passage of anti-scab legislation and requirements for paid sick leave.
“We have worked very hard to be a government that favours the interests of workers,” he said.
Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, said the Liberals’ move was a disappointment for anyone in the labour movement who expects this government to look out for workers.
“We are incredibly disappointed this is really the government coming to the aid of three employers, the Port of Vancouver, Port of Montreal and Port of Quebec, who chose to lockout their workers,” she said.
Bruske said the government is sending a message to employers across the country that they don’t actually have to put real effort into collective bargaining.
“They are not actually willing to bargain and so we are now getting to the place where we are training federally regulated employers that you don’t actually need to sit down with your workers to find solutions.”
Bruske said the labour movement appreciates what the government has done on anti-scab legislation, the sustainable jobs act and paid sick leave, but when it really counts, this government isn’t there.
“I appreciate the positives that have come out of this legislative session. I would say in this particular case there is a tremendous disrespect to workers being done here,” she said. “If you really want to stand up for workers then balance it, be more balanced in your approach rather than always supporting employers.”
NDP MP Matthew Green, the party’s labour critic, said his party is disappointed, but not surprised that the government went this route.
“This is just another example of how Liberals will always put the paycheques of big bosses and CEOs over the ability for workers to earn a fair, decent and living wage,” he said. “It’s a very weak Liberal government that under any type of pressure just buckles to big business interests.”
Green said his party will still operate on a case-by-case basis when it comes to supporting the Liberal government in Parliament. 
He said the Conservatives would be no better to workers and have routinely supported back-to-work legislation.
“Just because Pierre Poilievre stands up and demands there is an election tomorrow doesn’t make it so.”