Federal Government Action Addresses Immediate Crises; Now Longer Term View Needed

The Chamber of Marine Commerce (CMC) is expressing thanks to the Federal Government for taking action to address simultaneous supply chain breakdowns on Canada’s east and west coasts. Work stoppages at two of the most important ports in Canada had lasted several days, leaving consumers and businesses facing great uncertainty going into the holiday season. The situation was sufficiently dire that a broad array of businesses groups had called for decisive action to resolve the deadlock in the west and the east.

Through binding arbitration, a legal process will proceed where representatives for employers and workers submit their arguments to an Arbitrator – an impartial person, similar to a judge – who will consider all sides of the dispute and deliver a legally binding decision. Meanwhile, vital links in the supply chain are restored to maintain the flow of key cargoes.

“Supply chains in Canada have shown significant vulnerability to work stoppages over the past two years, which in turn has had a devastating effect on Canada’s global reputation as a trading partner, harmed our economy, and hurt consumers,” said Bruce Burrows, President and CEO of the CMC. “The CMC appreciates the decisive action taken today to address difficult and time sensitive situations that were not on a path to resolution. However, we also believe a focused effort is needed to determine how to avoid these situations in the future, as we and many other organizations advocated for recently.”

A review of other jurisdictions shows there are processes that protect worker and employer rights while preventing catastrophic outcomes for stakeholders who would be impacted by work stoppages. An example would be the U.S. emergency board mechanism, which delays a strike, lockout or other stoppage, generally for 60 days. The emergency board has 30 days to issue its report, and generally, emergency boards provide recommendations for settlement of a dispute. After the emergency board reports to the President, the parties to the dispute have another 30-day cooling off period to consider the recommendations of the emergency board and to reach an agreement. If no agreement is reached at the end of the cooling off period, then the parties may engage in strikes, lockouts or other actions. This approach is one example of how a government can protect public interests while also maintaining fair bargaining.

“To be clear, the CMC is not against due process, collective bargaining, or worker rights,” stated Mr. Burrows. “We are against the breakdown of vital supply chains, and especially against key supply chain links remaining severed while mediated negotiations fail to produce results. A better process is possible, and we are ready to help achieve it.”