Port Metro Vancouver truckers strike could cause disruptions across Canada

A labour dispute at Canada's busiest port has the potential to disrupt the delivery of goods across the country.

About 1,200 independent truckers who move cargo into and out of Vancouver's three main ports began a strike Wednesday morning over low hauling fees and money-losing wait times at the busy port.

The non-unionized drivers, largely owner-operators belonging to the United Truckers Association, say Port Metro Vancouver needs to streamline its operations to reduce waiting times or pay them an hourly rate while they sit idle until their container is loaded.

"Because of these delays, we're lucky if we get two moves in a day, which would give us a couple hundred bucks," Manny Dosange of the association told CBC News at the group's morning rally.

"And out of that, you've got to take diesel out, you've got to take all your costs out, and then you've got to try running your household on that. It's not happening and resources are totally dried up."

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It's not clear whether Wednesday's work stoppage will be a one-day affair similar to the protest truckers staged last October or turn into a lengthy strike like the 2005 walkout that lasted about six weeks.

That strike, over compensation for spiking diesel fuel costs but also over low fees and wait times, cost the B.C. economy an estimated $75 million a day. The ripple effect resulted in layoffs in a number of industries dependent on shipping.

The association's job action doesn't include roughly 1,200 unionized truckers. But the union representing them said Wednesday it will be holding a strike vote on Saturday over lack of bargaining progress, raising the prospect of a wider shutdown.

Any long labour action potentially could have disruptive consequences across Canada.

Port Metro Vancouver, which includes facilities in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet, the DeltaPort container terminal south of the city and the Fraser River docks in suburban Surrey, is the largest port in Canada. It handled $172 billion in goods in 2012, amounting to one fifth of Canada's overall trade, according to the Association of Canadian Port Authorities.

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Port Metro Vancouver reported this week its facilities handled a record 135 million tonnes of cargo last year, an overall increase of nine per cent in both import and export tonnage. Container traffic, such as that handled by the unhappy truckers, rose between six and seven per cent.

The Financial Post reported the association members planned to park their rigs indefinitely after being rebuffed by the port in attempts to negotiate a resolution to truckers' problems.

“This is exactly what we wanted to avoid,” Dosange told the Post. “We went to the table and approached all the parties to avoid what is happening today.”

A work stoppage would be "devastating" for the larger Canadian economy, Marc Bibeau, whose company OEC Group handles logistics services for many major Canadian retailers, told the Post.

“It’s definitely going to create havoc, and what it will do is create total gridlock on the docks,” he added. “The domino effect is the boats are going to be laid out at sea until they can find room and a berth to put these through.”

Port officials, however, say it will be business as usual the port remained committed to improving efficiency at its facilities to address the truckers' concerns.