Robb M. Stewart of The Wall Street Journal reports that the Canadian labor minister says the lockouts on both coasts create ‘uncertainty and instability’ and has ordered the parties to binding arbitration. Stewart writes:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is stepping in to force the country’s major seaports to resume operations, ending lockouts on both coasts and pushing employers and labor unions into binding arbitration.
On Tuesday, Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon said he had invoked his powers under the country’s labor code to force the disputes to the country’s labor-relations board, calling on it to order all sides back to work. The orders could take several days to be finalized, he said.
The decision affects the Port of Montreal, the Port of Quebec and seaports on British Columbia’s coast including in Vancouver, the country’s busiest gateway for seaborne trade. […]
Supply-chain analytics firm Everstream Analytics said the queue of vessels waiting to dock in Western Canada was growing. Some carriers had started to divert ships to ports not affected by shutdowns, which would cause congestion and capacity issues at yards, leading to further delays and increased costs, the firm said.
Container shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk said on its website it had several vessels headed to Montreal that were evaluating whether to unload goods at another East Coast port in Canada, including at Halifax in Nova Scotia.
Read more here.
