By Nick Lung.     Photo：Kelly   

The fate of Canada’s west coast port operations will be decided on Tuesday, July 25, when members of the Canadian International Longshoremen and Warehouse Federation vote on a tentative agreement on port ownership. The plan to put the deal to a union vote comes after a week of chaos and unrest at the port.

Earlier this week, the Canadian government said the strike was over and the agreement reached by its mediators was acceptable to both sides, but the union caucus later rejected the tentative deal. This sparked a series of intermittent shutdowns, causing confusion and frustration in the logistics world.

The terms of the settlement proposed by the senior federal mediator and approved by the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association, which represents port ownership, were approved by the ILWU caucus on July 13 and will be recommended to its members. All ports will be closed Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. PT for voting purposes.

The Canadian Railways Association estimates that for each day the strike lasts, it will take three to five days for the network and supply chain to recover. When the first strike ended on day 13, rail container delays were estimated at 39 to 66 days. This does not include delays to ships waiting to be processed.

The Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert are important ports for US trade, 15% of US trade enters the Port of Vancouver, and 60% of containers are sent to the US by rail. Trade delays cause shippers to pass on late fees for cargo containers to consumers. Delays also occurred during peak shipping season, including back-to-school and holiday orders bound for the U.S.

In a statement, Canadian National Railway said it was concerned about the impact of the renewed shutdown on the North American economy and Canada's reputation as a trading partner. "We will be in communication with our customers to discuss next steps. Our supply chain needs reliability, stability and predictability to function properly. We urge the government and both parties to take all necessary steps to get goods moving again."

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