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VANCOUVER—Unifor welcomes an announcement today by the federal and provincial Ministers of Transportation about wait times at Vancouver ports that upholds the principles outlined in the March 26 joint action plan. Agreed upon after weeks of further high level Steering Committee meetings, Mediator Vince Ready’s recommendations will soon be implemented at Vancouver-area sites.
“This announcement clears the way for wait time payments to start flowing freely to truck drivers despite the efforts of some groups to obstruct the plan for stability,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s BC area director.
Years of inaction on wait times, undercutting, and pay rates boiled over into a month-long strike by container truck drivers in March 2014. Only a negotiated settlement broke the impasse after truck drivers vowed to disobey forced-work legislation introduced by the BC government.
“We believe this announcement should send a strong message to all stakeholders that the joint action plan will be fully implemented and that stability is preferred to chaos,” added McGarrigle. “It’s time for those opposing this plan to get with the program and realize that the days of undercutting and downloading costs onto drivers are over.”
Unifor was founded Labour Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions merged. With more than 300,000 members, Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector.
