{"id":4375,"date":"2014-03-16T22:19:26","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T05:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=4375"},"modified":"2014-03-16T22:19:26","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T05:19:26","slug":"vancouver-area-port-truckers-remain-on-strike-following-failed-weekend-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/03\/16\/vancouver-area-port-truckers-remain-on-strike-following-failed-weekend-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Vancouver-area port truckers remain on strike following failed weekend talks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"601543_628383987219206_70876709_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: Facebook Page of Port Metro Vancouver<\/p>\n

VANCOUVER – There will be no immediate end to a trucker strike that has crippled operations in Vancouver-area ports for weeks after weekend talks between government and drivers failed to make progress.<\/p>\n

Manny Dosange, who represents more than 1,000 non-union truckers, said government officials were unwilling to negotiate during their meeting Sunday.<\/p>\n

“They do not want to talk at this time,” said Dosange. “It’s basically a take-it-or-leave-it deal.”<\/p>\n

“We’re at a stalemate,” he said.<\/p>\n

Gavin McGarrigle, who represents 400 union truckers, said the government was unwilling to answer any questions or clarify what he called a vague deal offered to workers.<\/p>\n

“We were told that the government was not prepared to negotiate,” said McGarrigle. “They told us they were not prepared to answer any of the questions that we had.”<\/p>\n

The dispute has largely focused on issues relating to pay, including the truckers’ wages and the amount of unpaid time they spend waiting for cargo at container terminals.<\/p>\n

The unionized truckers went on strike earlier this month, joining a thousand non-union drivers who walked off the job in February.<\/p>\n

Port officials estimate the strike is affecting about $885 million worth of cargo per week, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has deemed it a threat to the economy.<\/p>\n

The dispute has been fraught with drama.<\/p>\n

In late February Port Metro Vancouver filed a lawsuit against non-union truckers, alleging that protesting workers were disrupting port operations and damaging property.<\/p>\n

Non-union truckers said it was unclear if the perpetrators were part of their group, and that they were co-operating with police to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n

Non-union truckers have called for the suit to be dropped because no charges related to the incidents have been laid.<\/p>\n

The allegations haven’t been proven in court.<\/p>\n

A tentative agreement with the government fostered by a federally-appointed mediator was rejected over a week later.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, CN Rail obtained a temporary court injunction last week ordering striking truckers not to interfere with the company’s operations at a container yard in Surrey, southeast of Vancouver.<\/p>\n

The rail company filed a lawsuit earlier seeking a permanent injunction and damages.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges striking workers have been blocking traffic to the facility and intimidating other drivers.<\/p>\n

Both union and non-union truckers have denied any wrongdoing, and no allegations have been proven in court.<\/p>\n

Port Metro Vancouver, which is Canada’s largest port, leases government-owned land and terminal space to private operators.<\/p>\n

The port is made up of a collection of facilities throughout the Vancouver region and the strike has affected the port’s four container terminals.<\/p>\n

The striking truckers are not employed directly by Port Metro Vancouver, but rather are typically either independent contractors or sub-contractors working for shipping companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Facebook Page of Port Metro Vancouver VANCOUVER – There will be no immediate end to a trucker strike that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":4376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1103],"class_list":["post-4375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","tag-vancouver-area-ports","mauthors-steven-chua","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}