You're absolutely right. I don't think there's a union in Canada that's happy to go on strike. It's a pressure tactic we use on our employers and shipping companies. No one gets any pleasure out of it. We do it to get a settlement more quickly.
You're absolutely right that the management structure, both at the BCMEA and the Maritime Employers Association, or MEA, prevents us from talking to the real decision-makers.
I will say it again: In Halifax, the real decision-makers are at the bargaining table, and there's been no labour dispute. It's the same thing with the longshoremen in Vancouver. They have union demands, and the people at the bargaining table don't make a decision and have to forward those demands to a board of directors, which is a kind of star chamber. We never meet with a board of directors like that.
I'll go back to my original point. Section 34 of the Canada Labour Code really needs to be reviewed if we want to eliminate or minimize possible labour disputes. It's the same for us at the Port of Montreal; before 2020, the last disruptions dated back to 2000, 20 years ago, when management imposed a seven-day lockout. We really need to review the management structure so that the real decision-makers are at the table.
You're absolutely right. It's very easy to blame the workers who go on strike, to call them “casual”, as a member did a little earlier, but we don't do that for fun. We really want to negotiate better working conditions for our people, and that's the only role that unions must play.