By Jenny Wagler
In a decision that has “vindicated” the longshoremen and foremen’s unions and “disappointed” their employers, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ruled that the unions’ recent actions during contract negotiations did not constitute bargaining in bad faith.
The decision, rendered January 21 by vice-chairman Allan Hope, considered the recent bargaining actions of the British Columbia Maritime Employers’ Association (BCMEA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada and ILWU ship and foremen Local 514.
The CIRB dismissed the BCMEA’s allegation that the unions’ choice to file a notice of dispute with one employer rather than with the BCMEA – “the acknowledged and agreed-upon employer bargaining agent” – constituted bargaining in bad faith. It noted that the BCMEA is “only a voluntary association and not a designated employer.”
The CIRB also dismissed the BCMEA’s allegation that the cumulative effect of the unions’ conduct during contract negotiations demonstrated a failure to “make every reasonable effort to enter into a collective agreement.”
According to the CIRB’s decision, “there was some evidence of provocative and intimidating behaviour on the part of the foremen, some evidence of the unions cutting meetings short and the like, and even the admitted fact that the longshoremen failed to sign off on an agreement reached on one particular article.”
But it said that evidence “was not compelling, even cumulatively, in establishing that the unions had crossed the line and bounds of hard bargaining such that they demonstrated a failure to make every reasonable effort to conclude a collective agreement.”
ILWU Canada president Tom Dufresne applauded the decision. “It vindicates the union and what we’ve been saying all along: we’ve been trying to get a collective agreement.”
However, the decision is bad news for the BCMEA because it eliminates the possibility that the CIRB will end the current labour uncertainty at the port by either imposing a new collective agreement on the parties or a binding method of resolving outstanding terms of collective agreements.
BCMEA president Andy Smith said his association was disappointed in Hope’s decision. “We’re considering our options.”
Bargaining broke down between the parties after the recent exit of conciliation officer Bill Lewis. They’re now in a “cooling off” period that ends February 6, at which time a strike or lockout could occur.
Dufresne said the CIRB decision “clears the decks” for bargaining to resume.