BRITISH Columbia port employers and the foreperson’s union are slated to meet today to resume contract negotiations with the assistance of federal mediators.

The meeting follows a decision from the Canada Industrial Relations Board issued last week that found the foreperson’s union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514, acted in bad faith by tabling a minimum manning proposal at DP World’s Centerm terminal more than a year into the bargaining process.

It comes as a strike mandate approved by union membership in July expires on November 2, and as labour issues disrupt operations in the country’s east coast port of Montreal.

ILWU Local 514 president Frank Morena said he is “cautiously optimistic” that a deal could be reached, but that the union will be requesting judicial review of the CIRB’s decision.

“ILWU Local 514 wants to see a new contract, not a strike or lockout, and has done everything possible to negotiate at the table — not through the media, as British Columbia Maritime Employers Association has attempted to do,” Morena said in a statement on Friday evening.

“We still have a 96% strike mandate from our members to take job action if necessary — and that mandate expires by November 2, so the clock is ticking.”

Moreno noted that the union won a portion of the decision regarding continuous pay practices.

Talks would resume on Wednesday and Thursday “as necessary”, the BCMEA said on Friday.

The CIRB’s decision marked the third time it had determined that the union negotiated in bad faith, including when it issued a strike notice in July that targeted DP World exclusively. The union was instructed to rescind the strike notice following the board’s decision.

ILWU Local 514’s contract expired in March 2023. The union represents more than 700 ship and dock forepersons on Canada’s west coast, who are covered under a separate contract to the 7,400 longshore workers of ILWU Canada.

BCMEA and ILWU (excluding Local 514) agreed a four-year contract last summer after a tumultuous and often chaotic month that began with a 13-day strike.

Labour disputes disrupting operations in Canada’s east coast

Meanwhile, longshore workers are set to strike in two of Montreal’s terminals for an unlimited amount of time, starting on October 31.

This comes after port workers staged a walkout in six terminals for 24 hours between October 27-28.

The two terminals, Viau and Maisonneuve, are operated by Termont. The Canadian Union of Public Employees said it was targeting the company because “it is the only company at the Port of Montreal to modify schedules in a punitive way”.