Vancouver Strike May Spread to U.S.
Vancouver drivers and their trucking companies were to meet today with Labour Relations Board mediator Brian Foley in a bid to settle the dispute.
At the same time, Seattle port truckers were planning a protest today and threatened to walk off the job Tuesday.
"To my understanding, there's going to be a demonstration and it's entirely possible that the Port of Seattle will be shut down on Tuesday," said Bill MacDonald, the Vancouver drivers' spokesman.
The truckers are demanding hourly wages of $53, to replace a system of per-trip payments of up to $160 for hauls in the Lower Mainland.
The 400 independent owner operators say the present system does not compensate them enough to safely maintain their vehicles.
On Friday, the drivers voted to continue the work stoppage despite an offer by the largest trucking company and a few smaller ones that would have seen one-third of the truckers return to work.
MacDonald said the truck drivers' wage issues are not unique to Vancouver.
"It's the solution that we're going after that's unique," he said.
"To our knowledge, nobody else in North America is paid by the hour. We're not shy about being the first ones."
The decision by Seattle truck drivers to walk off their jobs was made at a meeting Saturday, MacDonald said.
In support of their Vancouver counterparts, Seattle drivers are abiding by a "hot edict," refusing to handle any Vancouver-bound containers that have been diverted to Seattle ports, said MacDonald.
Vancouver truckers enforced the edict by blocking northbound port-truck traffic at the Canada-U.S. border on the weekend.
Teamsters officials, who are organizing Seattle drivers, and Port of Seattle representatives were not available Sunday.
Last week, three truck companies - led by American Cartage - broke ranks with their 15 counterparts by offering their drivers a $50-an-hour wage.
The drivers declined, voting to stay off the job until all 18 companies supported a wage offer.
Lawyer Victor Leginsky, who represents the trucking companies, said the companies "have made it quite clear that we're not going to pay hourly."
While the dispute continues, merchants with goods stuck at the Vancouver port are eagerly awaiting a solution.
Brad Glessing said the work stoppage has brought his import business to a halt.
He said layoffs are imminent for his staff of 30.
