News Content

Vancouver truck strike continues despite threats to revoke port permits

PORT Metro Vancouver authorities in Canada have issued an ultimatum for striking truck drivers to return to work or risk losing their permits to service the container terminals.

Said Vancouver port chief executive Robin Silvester: "A continued refusal by some truckers to provide such service is likely to result in suspension or termination of their permits."

The threat comes after the federal and provincial governments and port officials released a 14-point plan last week in a push to end the strike that began on February 26 when hundreds of non-union drivers parked their rigs in protest over services and pay at the city's port facilities.

Unionised driver voted to join the strike just days later and officially walked off the job early this week.

Mr Silvester has promised the truckers that once the port returns to full operations, mediator Vince Ready will help with implementing the plan, but both union and non-union truckers have rejected the proposal, reported CBC News.

The plan calls for the striking drivers to return to work immediately, ending a strike industrial dispute that has crippled operations and delayed the transport of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of goods.

British Columbia area director Gavin McGarrigle of Unifor, a union representing 400 container truck drivers, said it had responded to the 14-point plan with some questions but that it had been told it would not get any answers until truckers returned to work, reported Reuters.

Truckers were told by representatives of the port and government to "take it or leave it," said van truck strike United Trucking Association spokesman Manny Dosange, speaking for the independents. "Our members are not prepared to that."

Rising Asian demand for Canadian products has led to a boom for Vancouver, which handled a record 135 million tonnes of cargo in 2013, including 25 million tonnes of containerised material.