ILWU to vote on Canada's west coast ports deal tomorrow

fairview-container-terminal Credit Prince Rupert Port Authority

24/07/2023

Tomorrow, the fate of Canada’s west coast ports will be decided, as the ILWU Canada takes a vote on the proposed ‘tentative deal’.

The vote will mean work will stop between 8am and 4pm Pacific Time on Tuesday across all relevant ports.

The package, which is being recommended by the ILWU caucus, will see a compounded 19.2% wage increase over four years, taking the median salary to $162,000 – not including benefits or pensions, which will see an 18.5% increase, according to CNBC. Each strike day will take three to five days to recover from.

Meanwhile, eeSea reports today: “This weekend once again showcased some definitive moves from carriers reacting pessimistically to the events on the west coast. Our team has noted three new diversions and one new port swap, bringing the total to seventeen port swaps and thirteen diversions.

“There were also four more blanks announced: one for the WSL’s SVC2 service (w31); two for Ocean’s PNW2 (w32 & w34); and another for THEA’s PN3 (w33).

“Vancouver currently has nine vessels in port, seven waiting and seven steaming towards; at 44% congestion. Prince Rupert currently has one ship in port, none waiting and five steaming towards; no congestion.”