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Roughly 1,800 unionized and non-unionized truckers are striking at the port in protest of what they say are long lines, wait times, and other “unfair” practices at the port. The strike began Feb. 26.

Last Thursday, the provincial and federal governments as well as the port authority signed off on a 14-point action plan aimed at ending the strike and addressing the truckers’ concerns.

But after reviewing the plan, both Unifor and the United Truckers’ Association, which represents the non-unionized truckers, said it fell short of what was needed and failed to immediately address the truckers’ concerns about wait times and compensation at the port.

The union has called on all parties to return to the table to negotiate a settlement.

The port strike has had a devastating impact on the economy with only about 15% of the normal container traffic being moved by truck leaving in and out. This has had a ripple effect across B.C. and Canada as major retailers, like Canadian Tire Corp., look for other ports to ship their goods, and other sectors, like the forestry industry, have come to a standstill, unable to ship their goods.

Todd Stone, B.C. minister of transportation, said he was confident the action plan was the right approach to addressing the concerns raised by the truckers. But if they refused to return work, he was prepared to enact back-to-work legislation as early as March 24.

“It’s imperative that they respond to the plan with an end to the work stoppage, so that both they and the port can get back to work,” Mr. Stone said.

His comments were echoed by the federal minister of transport, Lisa Raitt, who has also used similar legislation or the threat of it to end work stoppages at Air Canada and the country’s largest railways in the past.

“Port Metro Vancouver is Canada’s largest and busiest port, and this disruption is having a severe effect on our economy,” she said. “The truckers working at the port have had a number of days to look at the 14-point action plan and I encourage them to go back to work, so we can start to implement the actions as soon as possible.”