Truckers Strike at Port Metro Vancouver Defends Right to a Livelihood - Normand Chouinard - An important battle has been going on for several weeks in British Columbia, specifically in the city of Vancouver, the largest port in Canada and third largest port in North America. (Port Metro Vancouver manages 28 marine terminals in deep water, four of which are for containers: Centerm and Vanterm in Burrard Inlet in Vancouver; Robert Banks Superport and Deltaport in Delta; and the Fraser Surrey Docks on the Fraser River in Surrey). More than 1,500 drivers specializing in the transport of containers in transit from freight trains to boats, commonly called intermodal transport (rail, ship and truck), are leading a major fight for all truckers in Canada. The truck drivers are facing violent state-organized threats from the provincial Liberal and federal Conservative governments and the Port Authority. Even though the Port is a federal responsibility, the provincial Liberal government is introducing back-to-work legislation to force unionized drivers to end their strike without an agreement acceptable to themselves. For its part, the Port Authority is behaving like a hooligan, issuing daily violent threats to terminate the port licences of the owner-operators if they do not immediately return to work without any of the outstanding issues resolved. It all started February 26, when more than 1,200 non-unionized truckers affiliated with the United Truckers Association (UTA) demonstrated and held work stoppages to protest the long wait times for container deliveries in Port Metro Vancouver. They are paid per shipment and for several years they have been demanding improved delivery conditions and a wage increase to ensure their livelihood. The vast majority of truckers in the UTA own their own trucks or are small transport companies employing only a few drivers. Others may work for larger transport companies but are still subject to the same working conditions. Many owner-operators are new immigrants from all continents, with some 90 per cent of the drivers, especially owner-operators, from the Punjabi community. They are among the most exploited truckers in the country. Monopolies and governments deregulated transport in the 1990s across the country, greatly increasing competition among truckers. The successive deregulation created vast reserves of low-wage drivers, which the large Canadian manufacturing monopolies use to their advantage withdrawing the maximum added-value created by these drivers. On March 21, truckers held a mass action in defence of their rights at athe Convention Centre Plaza at the port of Vancouver (see item below). More demonstrations are being planned by the UTA. According to UTA spokesman Manny Dosange, the situation is untenable. Were sitting out on their property two, three hours [to get our containers off].... were lucky if we get two moves in a day, which would give us a couple hundred bucks. And out of that, youve got to take diesel out, youve got to take all your costs out, and then youve got to try running your household on that. Its not happening and resources are totally dried up, said Dosange. The UTAs move was followed by 300 unionized drivers of the Vancouver Container Truckers Association (VCTA -- affiliated with Unifor). They voted 100 per cent for strike action rejecting the tentative agreement reached by the union. Their collective agreement expired in the summer of 2012. VCTA spokesman Gavin McGarrigle says that the deregulated industry has created rivalries between truckers which benefit no one. Their demands are similar to those of the UTA, for decreased delivery time and increased pay per trip. The federal and British Columbia governments and Port Metro Vancouver made a proposal aimed at reducing wait times while increasing compensation, meaning increasing regulated trip rates by 10 per cent and revising wages and supplements for fuel surcharges. The plan was rejected by truckers in favour of negotiation. The provincial government is now threatening back-to-work legislation to end the truckers pressure tactics. The VCTA and UTA truckers denounced this threat, responding that the criminalization of their struggle will only exacerbate the problem. For now, truckers are holding fast because they have nothing to lose, said VCTA spokesman McGariggle. Support the Truckers in Vancouver! cpcml.ca/BCW2014/BC0205.HTM#1
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:27:27 +0000
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