Business groups say the work stoppage at B.C. ports is the latest in a run of supply chain disruptions affecting Canadian companies and the country’s economy.
Employers at most of the province’s ports locked out their workers Monday in a dispute involving roughly 700 unionized foremen. The workers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 have been without a contract since March 2023.
The disruption comes less than a year and a half after a 13-day strike at the same port, and just a few months after a countrywide work stoppage at Canada’s two biggest railways.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said Monday that significant labour disruptions are becoming too common and tarnish Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner.
“Not long ago, shutting down our West Coast ports two years in a row would have seemed unthinkable,” said the Chamber’s senior director of transportation, infrastructure and …