Vancouver truckers return to bargaining table again
Posted March 16, 2014 4:04 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Heading into week two of job action, Vancouver truckers returned to the bargaining table with the Federal and Provincial governments Sunday, hoping to iron out concerns with the latest proposal from government.
Unifor BC Area Director Gavin McGarrigle says they’re looking to clarify some of the 14-point plan to end the strike. That plan was tabled by the government Thursday, but McGarrigle wouldn’t go into detail what part of the proposal truckers want to change. “We hope to see a substantive response to those questions and concerns that gets us closer to resolving this situation.”
He says union representatives made their position clear Friday, but were left waiting. “We ended up later in the afternoon having a conference call with the Federal and Provincial government representatives. We asked for a meeting from Saturday morning, so our negotiating team has been ready to go all weekend.”
Truckers demands center around wait times for picking up and dropping off containers at Port Metro Vancouver–times drivers say are too long, costing them too much money in wasted fuel and reducing their ability to deliver multiple loads. Drivers are currently paid by the load, not on an hourly wage. Truckers also say they’re being forced to work more than 11 hours a day, something not reflected in their pay.
The Port says over 800-million dollars of cargo per week is being affected by the strike. At an event in Vancouver Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke out about the strike. “We’re obviously concerned about this particular labour dispute because we have got to have major trade transportation corridors operating and it is not acceptable to have relatively small numbers of people blocking what is important trade for a range of British Columbian-Canadian businesses.”
The proposal tabled Thursday includes regulated wages to be increased within a month and by next year, a full review of fuel surcharges and wages.
