Good morning. Thank you, committee, for having me.
My name is Rob Ashton, and I am the national president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union of Canada. I represent approximately 8,000 longshore workers on the west coast.
The 2023 strike negotiations were doomed to failure before they started. You may ask why I would start with such a statement. The answer is quite simple. It was due to who was and was not at the bargaining table. The BCMEA was at the table on behalf of the employers, with two superintendents and an HR manager, all of whom had zero decision-making capabilities. Who was missing from the bargaining table? It was the decision-makers. There were no terminal operator representatives with knowledge of the working conditions at their terminals who could actually make decisions on behalf of their companies in regard to bargaining.
This major shift in representation at the bargaining table began in the 2010 negotiations. Since 2010, our bargaining relationship has changed for the worse. Over the last few rounds of bargaining, the BCMEA has chosen to sit back and hope the Government of Canada would step in and legislate a collective agreement for our industry, or send us to a third party for a deal. This was proven to be true when the BCMEA handed us a letter stating its path forward. Its idea of a path forward was a binding arbitration scenario, which bypassed our charter right for free collective bargaining. As well, the BCMEA refused to meet with us directly when we were at the FMCS level. They forced us to go through the mediators to pass positions back and forth. This proved to us that the BCMEA had no intention to bargain a CBA with our committee.
The 2023 strike was the first work stoppage of significance in generations. The union knows this strike could have been averted if the BCMEA had shown up to bargain with us. During bargaining, when the BCMEA gave us their global offers for settlement, the union's bargaining committee responded promptly that same day. The union, with all of our decision-makers at the table, were able to respond at each step. The BCMEA, however, would take an average of seven to 10 days to respond to our global offers. Each decision had to be taken away and, we believe, reviewed by a decision-maker.
Another hurdle we faced was the announcement of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 getting approved. This had a significant impact on bargaining, because this terminal, for all intents and purposes, will be an automated terminal, which will affect our members.
The impacts of the west coast strike on other industries in Canada has more to do with companies surviving off just-in-time shipping. If companies in this country took advantage of the existing warehousing infrastructure of equipment and goods, issues like these, which can arise at the ports and in other transportation sectors, would have less of an impact on their businesses. It would also employ many more Canadians with good union jobs. This just-in-time shipping model is vulnerable not only to labour management issues but also to extreme weather occurrences, such as the atmospheric river in B.C. a couple of years ago.
In regard to innovation at the ports, we understand that technologies continually evolve, and the need to green our working environments is understood by all. With that in mind, we must look at technology and equipment that support workers and the environment at the same time. I'm not an expert in this field, but I know hydrogen-based equipment is much better for the environment, and we can keep workers in the seats of the machines. The only ones that gain from doing away with workers' jobs through automation and AI are corporations, which take their profits away from our communities and workers, to no one's benefit but their own.
In regard to port congestion at the terminals, you can land airplanes right now at some of our container terminals. It's that slow. This can be fixed if the parties in the marine industry decide to work together and go after the work.
I would like to thank the committee for allowing me to present here today. My testimony is complete.
Thank you.