IN THE NEWS: Labor strikes shut down operations at Canada’s container ports from East to West Coast, with U.S. trade left in limbo

CNBC
November 4, 2024
Lori Ann LaRocco

FROM THE ARTICLE: Key ports on Canada’s West Coast, including its largest container port in Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert, were shut down by a labor strike on Monday.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship & Dock Foreman Local 514 began striking on Monday morning, stopping containers and cargo immediately. According to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, $800 million in trade flows through West Coast ports every day.

Approximately 20% of U.S. trade arrives in the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, where strikes broke out after union leadership and industry representatives failed to reach a deal before a cooling-off period expired. The ILWU Local 514 contract expired on March 31, 2023, with 96% of union members voting in favor of a strike in September.

This strike comes on the heels of a recent strike still impacting the country’s second-largest port, the Port of Montreal (Prince Rupert is Canada’s third-largest port). Montreal processes 40% of all East Coast container traffic. Two terminals have been blocked since Thursday when a strike was announced by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 375.
....
“Vancouver processes a significant amount of ocean containers that move via rail to the U.S.,” said Paul Brashier, Vice President of Global Supply Chain for ITS Logistics. “As was the case last year, a quick resolution to this dispute is needed as this will negatively impact many supply chains that need goods for manufacturing and the holiday peak retail season for replenishment.”

Read the full article.