By Rosa Saba

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon intervened Tuesday to end work stoppages at ports in both British Columbia and Montreal, directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the resumption of all operations and move the talks to binding arbitration.

But labour experts and other groups say the minister's decision to intervene in the dispute sets a dangerous precedent that undermines workers' rights. 

"It further erodes employers' incentives to reach agreements at the bargaining table, because it reinforces the idea that they can just drag things out and wait for government intervention to fix their problems for them," said Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University.

It's the second time this year that Ottawa has taken this route, the first time being this summer when Canada's two main railways ground to a halt. Eidlin and others also criticized that decision which is being challenged in court by the Teamsters union. 

"The employers' strategy worked," Eidlin said.

"The aim of the lockout was not to pressure the workers, it was to pressure the government to intervene." 

The Maritime Employers Association locked out 1,200 longshore workers at the Port of Montreal on Sunday night after workers voted to reject what employers called a final contract offer.

The job action came after port workers in British Columbia were locked out last week amid a labour dispute involving more than 700 longshore supervisors, resulting in a paralysis of container cargo traffic at terminals on the West Coast.

Business groups had been calling for government intervention to get the flow of goods moving again. 

The minister said Tuesday the negotiations had reached an impasse with the work stoppages at the ports of British Columbia and the Port of Montreal impacting supply chains, thousands of jobs, and Canada's reputation as a reliable trading partner.

"Negotiated agreements are the best way forward, but we must not allow other Canadians to suffer when certain parties do not fulfil their responsibility to reach an agreement," MacKinnon said in a statement announcing the decision.

"It is my duty and responsibility to act in the interest of businesses, workers, farmers, families and all Canadians."

MacKinnon said he hopes operations at the ports can be restored in a matter of days.

Alison Braley-Rattai, an associate professor of labour at Brock University, said the mechanism used by MacKinnon allows the government to evade the process of passing back-to-work legislation, meaning they don't have to rely on the support of other parties in the House of Commons.

"What we are seeing now, at least in the federal sector, appears very cynical," she said in an email, with employers precipitating a work stoppage so they can ask the government to impose arbitration.

There are consequences to the government intervening in labour disputes, Braley-Rattai added — if employers believe they can use lockouts to get binding arbitration, they might be incentivized to drag out negotiations "to the point where a lockout appears like the obvious next step." 

"Continual reliance upon binding arbitration may make it more difficult for the parties to actually reach their own negotiated settlements in the future," she said. 

"Governments, then, should exercise restraint with regard to intervention."

At a news conference Tuesday, MacKinnon said he doesn't take lightly the decision to intervene in the collective bargaining process, but the talks were all at an impasse without an immediate way forward. That made the duration of the stoppage unclear and created real economic risk, he said. 

"And Canadians have limited tolerance right now for economic self-harm," he said.

The Quebec branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the nearly 1,200 dockworkers at Montreal's port, denounced the government's decision, calling it a "dark day for workers' rights."

"The right to collective bargaining is a constitutional right," the union said in a news release in French. 

The federal NDP echoed the union's criticism, accusing Ottawa of overriding union rights and caving to corporate interests. 

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business expressed relief, however both said it's clear a longer-term solution is needed to avoid future disruptions. 

The current disputes come less than a year and a half after different workers at most B.C. port terminals went on strike for 13 days in July 2023. 

Earlier this year, the government announced an inquiry into that strike to prevent economic disruptions on that scale

MacKinnon reiterated the need for long-term solutions.  

"It is our government's responsibility to ensure industrial peace," he said. 

The CFIB on Tuesday called for the government to designate ports as essential so they aren't subject to such stoppages in the future.

(C) The Canadian Press