On Tuesday, the federal labour minister intervened to end the work stoppages at Canada’s largest ports in British Columbia and Quebec, imposing "final and binding arbitration" on both parties.
Dock workers at Canada’s busiest ports have been locked out after unions and employers failed to reach an agreement. The Port of Montreal workers began striking on Sunday night, joining the locked-out workers at the B.C. ports.
The labour disruptions have caused the suspension of over $1.2 billion worth of goods passing through these ports daily.
Steve MacKinnon told reporters that, despite attempts to resume negotiations in recent days, little progress had been made.
He announced that he had instructed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to "order the resumption of all operations and duties at the ports and to help the parties resolve their collective agreements through final and binding arbitration."
MacKinnon expressed confidence that work would resume "within a matter of days." The order applies to workers at the ports in B.C. and Montreal, as well as longshoremen at the Port of Quebec, who have been locked out for over two years.
This marks the second time in recent months that the Liberal government has used binding arbitration to resolve a labour dispute, following its intervention in August to end a shutdown at Canada’s two largest railway companies.
Source Ottawa orders end to B.C., Montreal port shutdowns with binding arbitration | Globalnews.ca