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B.C. government orders striking port truckers back to work, but will they obey?

B.C. government orders striking port truckers back to work, but will they obey?

We've now reached the push-comes-to-shove phase of the Vancouver port truckers' strike.

The B.C. government tabled legislation Monday afternoon ordering unionized truckers back to work and imposing a 90-day cooling off period on the dispute, CKNW News reported.

“The cooling off legislation tabled today is the least interventionist of the options available," Labour Minister Shirley Bond said. "We believe that a 90-day cooling off period is a reasonable approach that will require the parties to return to the bargaining table.”

But it's by no means clear if the government's action, which has been telegraphed since last week, will put an end to the dispute that has crippled container traffic in and out of Canada's busiest port for three weeks.

[ Related: Port Metro Vancouver: truck drivers vow to continue strike ]

The legislation affects only about 250 truckers who belong to Unifor, which said forcing truckers back to work will only worsen the long-running dispute over chronic rate undercutting by trucking firms and long wait times for drivers at the port.

“Our people aren’t going to be bullied,” Unifor director Gavin McGarrigle told the Vancouver Sun.

The legislation also does not apply to more than a thousand non-union truckers, many of whom own their rigs and who belong to a separate bargaining association. They've been threatened by Port Metro Vancouver with having their permits to operate in the port revoked.

The unionized truckers who are employed by shipping firms wanted to negotiate some changes to a 14-point package tabled by the government and port officials, but they rejected any modifications.

“What kind of a country are we living in here when people follow all of the rules . . . and then be told there will be no negotiations at all?” asked McGarrigle. “This is Canada, not some banana republic. These people are not slaves.”

The dispute has featured hardball on both sides, with allegations drivers were being intimidated into not working, of rocks being thrown and brake lines cut.

Port officials suggested trucking firms were free to look for replacement drivers if striking truckers lost their port permits.

The port claims that tactic is working.

"Towards the end of the week, we were around 40 per cent of normal operation level," port president Robin Sylvester told CBC News.

"Over the weekend, one of the largest terminals was open and had 700 truck moves, which is a very large number for a weekend day. So it seems very clear that people are deciding they want to go back to work."

The back-to-work legislation will tighten the screws on unionized drivers, providing fines of $10,000 a day for the union and $400 for individual drivers who defy the order, CBC News reported.

If talks resume, mediator Vince Ready, who stepped into the dispute near the beginning and also helped settle a lengthy walkout on 2005 over the same issues, would again be at the table.

However, the latest stoppage was triggered in part by complaints Ready's 2005 recommendations were never implemented. They included standardized fees from shippers and for the port to take steps to reduce the waiting times to pick up and drop off containers.

As in 2005, this strike quickly caused a backlog on the docks of containers filled with consumer goods destined for Canadian retailers and a buildup export-laden containers, which was beginning to ripple through the Canadian economy.

[ Related: Businesses start feeling the pinch with little progress in Vancouver port strike ]

"While the government’s preference is always to see disputes such as this settled through collective bargaining, that has not worked in this situation involving various parties and complex issues," the province said in its news release. "As a result, the provincial and national economies are at risk of long-term damage."

Meanwhile, steps were being taken to avert another potentially damaging blow to Canada's transportation system.

Negotiators for CN Rail and the Teamsters will take another stab at reaching an agreement after the railway's 3,000 unionized conductors rejected a second tentative contract last week, QMI Agency reported.

The two sides returned to the bargaining table on Saturday.

It's likely federal back-to-work legislation could loom over the CN dispute, as the Conservative government has little patience with disruptions in any sector it considers key to the economy.

The union said government interference has made reaching an acceptable deal difficult, QMI Agency reported.