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Vancouver—Today’s series of rulings from the Port Trucking Commissioner ushers in a new and long-overdue era of strict enforcement, says the largest union in the sector.
“Everybody has to play by the rules, and voluntary compliance is clearly the way to go,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s BC Area Director.
In the first three public decisions under the Container Trucking Act, Columbia Containers was found to have owed 14 truck drivers over $106,501.33 in fuel surcharges payments. For failure to pay correct hourly rates, Amalgamated Transport Systems Ltd. owed ten company drivers $9,264.84. A third company, AC Transport, owed a total of $36,373.54 to 37 drivers.
“This is the tip of the iceberg for what is owed to container truck drivers across the sector,” McGarrigle added.
McGarrigle says the ruling also issued a warning for trucking companies: cooperate with the Commissioner Corinn Bell or face stiff penalties.
“The Container Trucking Act is crystal clear, and that was echoed in today’s ruling: employers who try to break the rules will face penalties of up to $500,000,” said McGarrigle.
The three companies were not assessed any penalties by the Commissioner as they voluntarily paid after an audit identified a shortfall in payment to drivers and cooperated with the investigation. The decisions also stated that a lack of timely voluntary compliance and good faith cooperation will not be tolerated going forward.
Unifor has aggressively pursued payment for container truck drivers. Most recently, the union filed in provincial court to seek enforcement of the pay rates articulated first in the March 2014 Joint Action Plan, then in a December 14 Order in Council, and again in a January 2015 statutory declaration from trucking companies. On November 5, Bell and Deputy Commissioner Vince Ready sent a letter to all companies in the sector demanding that all drivers be paid outstanding wages retroactive to April 3, 2014.
Container truckers shut down Port Metro Vancouver for nearly four weeks in March 2014 as a result of wage undercutting by trucking companies and long wait times at the Port.
