U.S. dock workers refuse to touch Canada cargo as B.C. port strike continues | CBC News

Maritime employers say the impact of the strike in B.C. is being felt internationally, as U.S. port workers refuse to handle containers rerouted from Vancouver to Seattle, according to reporting from the Canadian Press.

The B.C. Maritime Employers Association says the move further damages the “reliability and competitiveness of West Coast ports up and down” as the work stoppage drags on for a 10th day.

International Longshore and Warehouse Union International president Willie Adams told CNBC last week that members of the U.S. West Coast chapter of the union won’t be unloading Canadian-bound cargo in solidarity with the striking workers in B.C.

Adams told a rally in Vancouver on Sunday that anyone who thought they could offload Canada-bound cargo at Tacoma, Seattle, Oakland or Los Angeles should know that it “ain’t happening.”

WATCH | What the B.C. port strike means for Canada:

What the B.C. port strike means for Canada

Workers at ports across B.C. are on strike. We break down why it’s happening and what it means for you and for Canada’s economy.

Some 7,500 dock workers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) walked off the job on July 1 after failing to agree a new wage deal with the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA).

The union says the BCMEA is refusing to give a fair pay increase despite making billions of dollars in profits in recent years. The association says it is negotiating in good faith while blaming the strike for damaging trade and the economy.

The strike has upended operations at two of Canada’s three busiest ports, the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert — key gateways for exporting the country’s natural resources and commodities and bringing in raw materials.

World’s top fertilizer maker cuts output

As a sign of these issues, the world’s biggest fertilizer producer, Nutrien Ltd, cut production on Tuesday, citing the impact of the strike, whose cost has now ballooned to an estimated $5.5 billion in Canadian dollars.

Nutrien blamed the Port of Vancouver work stoppage for lowering export capacity at its Cory potash mine in Saskatchewan and warned of further production impacts if the walkout is prolonged.

The strike could trigger more supply-chain disruptions and fuel inflation, economists have warned, just as the central bank is trying to cool the economy. The Bank of Canada is widely expected to raise its key interest rate on Wednesday by 25 basis points to five per cent.

Small businesses worry about operations

More than half of Canadian small business owners say the strike at the Port of Vancouver will affect their operations, according to preliminary survey results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released on Tuesday.

The strike so far has cost an estimated $5.5 billion Cdn, based on industry body Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters’ calculation of about $500 million Cdn in disrupted trade every day.

The two parties met in person for the first time in more than a week on Monday night, a government source not authorized to speak on the record said

They were joined by Senator Hassan Yussuf, a former president of the Canadian Labour Congress who helped negotiate an end to one of the largest public sector strikes involving Canadian federal workers in April and May, the source said.

In statements late on Monday, both sides blamed each other for failing to reach a new deal. The association said its proposals to address ILWU Canada’s demand to expand the union’s jurisdiction over regular maintenance work on terminals were rejected by the union.