Editor:
The recent Vancouver Port strike was a potential disaster for Canada, with ramifications far beyond the longshore workers themselves. Nobody was asking “what do these employees do to justify their labour ask?” It seems approximately 6,000 Vancouver port workers (7,400 total B.C.) essentially move containers that have to be loaded, unloaded, tracked and categorized. For the most part, it is a mechanical labour intense work requirement. For this task the current longshore worker median salary is reportedly $136,000/year. Wages have increased 40% over the past 13 years. The union demands were for a cumulative increase of 21.8%. This translated to a 17% increase in the first two yrs: an $8,000 “inflation allowance”; plus $10,000 top up to the retirement allowance to $92,250/year, all subject to no contracting out and protection against automation. The latest rejected offer regarding wages was a four-year package providing a 19.2% compounded wage increase, moving wages to an annual compensation of $162,000. Contracting out and protection against automation is the elephant in the room.
Now let’s look at some comparative facts. Rotterdam, Holland is the busiest port in Europe (10th busiest globally). To ensure maintaining a global position of competitive competence it is committed to the necessity of automation and specialization to handle the varieties of shipping demands. Rotterdam handles five times the Vancouver port daily volume and currently employs 10 to 15 people per day to run the automated systems of port demands. Canada’s Vancouver port efficiency ranked globally is 347 of 348. Wow….second last. Seems that unless Canada is destined to become a small town satellite port, somebody has to pull-up their boot straps We lost the bulk of the container business to Seattle during a labour strike several years ago. History provides a lesson to be learned.
Continued labour demands will further cripple the much needed flow of goods and services in all sectors. Short-term provincial and federal thinking will rapidly move Canada from a nation of contribution to a third world “have not” country just sitting on the wealth of economic potential. Natural gas or LNG ….anyone?
Bud Hoffman, Sechelt
