On Tuesday, [Canadian Federal Labour Minister Lisa] Raitt was in Vancouver to sign the eight-year ports agreement recently reached between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association.
At a downtown signing ceremony, Raitt lauded the agreement as a win-win deal for both workers — who get improved wages and benefits and workplace security — and the ports, which need security and reliability to compete against other West Coast ports.
The agreement includes an upfront signing bonus, average annual wage hikes of about 3.5 per cent and a new, expanded program for maternity/paternity leave. The deal also has inflation protection for the latter years, Dufresne said in an interview after the ceremony.
“It has some of the premier increases in the private sector in Canada this year,” he said.
Ship and dock foremen in ILWU Local 514 are covered by a separate agreement, which is still under negotiation.