VANCOUVER—Workers at all of B.C.’s ports were set to be locked out by their employers Thursday as part of an 18-month labour dispute that has escalated this week.

Here’s what you need to know about what’s going on and how it could affect you and other Canadians.

Are the ports definitely going to shut down?

No, but something will have to give to prevent a lockout.

The employers gave notice Tuesday that they would lock out workers starting Thursday at 8 a.m. In the notice, it was clear that all port operations in B.C. would shut down, with the exception of grain shipping and cruise ships. That includes ports in Vancouver, the New Westminster area, Vancouver Island and Prince Rupert.

There was only a small window of time after the strike notice for the BCMEA and the ILWU to resolve their differences. The parties were at the bargaining table as of Wednesday afternoon.

Who are the players here?

There are two main sides in the labour dispute. On the workers’ side is the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), and on the employers’ side is the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA).

The union represents 6,500 B.C. workers who load, unload, check and store cargo arriving and leaving from B.C.’s ports. In 2018, there were 6,744 unionized longshore workers, 629 foremen and 2,903 non-unionized casual workers on the books.

The BCMEA represents 55 companies that own ships, load and unload ships, process containers and transfer goods from ships to other transport vehicles up and down the B.C. coast. Members include terminal operators such as Kinder Morgan and Neptune Bulk Terminals as well as ship owners such as COSCO Shipping Lines.

Instead of local unions and individual employers bargaining independent collective agreements, the BCMEA and ILWU Canada negotiate collective agreements that set wages, working conditions and benefits for longshore workers across the entire province, with some differences depending on location.

Why is there a labour dispute in the first place?

The BCMEA and the ILWU are both tight-lipped about what’s on the table in bargaining — and how it’s gotten to the point of a labour dispute that could disrupt Canada’s economy.

What we do know is that anxiety over automation threatening job security is an issue for the union. The last colletive agreement between the parties was signed in 2010, and significant technological advancements have been made since then.

The latest collective agreement between the parties, which expired March 31, 2018, contains provisions to protect workers in the event of displacement by automation — including retraining for alternate work opportunities and voluntary early retirment plans.

It also allows the employer to require that employees retire at age 62, as long as the employee is fully covered by a supplementary pension plan.

What items could become harder to find starting Thursday?

The retail council of Canada says $180 million of container traffic comes into the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert every day — two thirds of Canada’s inbound shipping container traffic.

Everything from dishwashers to bed sheets to imported food — most of the products commonly found on grocery or department store shelves — comes into Canada via the ports.

While the impact of the lockout may not be felt immediately by consumers, retailers and importers told Star Vancouver they are already bracing for it.

A labour dispute that took place in 2014 offers hints of what may be to come.

That year, a six-week trucking strike at the Port of Vancouver contributed to a rise in the price of consumer goods, said Greg Wilson, B.C. director of government relations for the Retail Council of Canada. Larger companies paid more to ship goods by other routes, while smaller retailers were hit by unexpected costs like paying shipping terminals to hold their stuck cargo.

How far-reaching are the consequences?

Consumer goods arriving at the Port of Vancouver are transported by truck and rail across North America. It’s not clear yet where consumers will be most affected, but the impact could extend from Vancouver to Toronto and beyond.

What is the federal government doing to intervene?

Marine shipping, ferries and port services are federally regulated workplaces, which means they’re governed by Canada’s federal labour laws instead of provincial versions. Both parties have confirmed that their efforts to reach a deal have been escalated to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS).

The FMCS can be brought into bargaining efforts when parties can’t come to an agreement on their own. A federal mediator is chosen or appointed to try to help the parties reach a deal.

Federal Labour Minister Patty Hadju is also involved. A spokesperson for the minister said Wednesday she was in Vancouver and had met with both parties to encourage them to reach a deal.

The federal government also has the authority to introduce legislation that would force the longshore workers back to work. That’s what Hajdu did in the high-profile Canada Post strike last year. In the Canada Post case, workers were legislated back to work, and the parties were assigned 90-day binding mediation-arbitration.

Why does the government allow ports to be shut down by labour disputes?

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The federal government can only intervene in labour disputes under certain conditions.

Back-to-work legislation exists in Canada so that the government can end labour-management disputes when it judges the fallout has had major negative impacts on the rest of society. Those negative impacts need to be weighed against the rights of unions and employers to strike or lock out.

There are some restrictions on who can strike. Workers deemed “essential” by the government can’t strike at all. That includes correctional services workers and search-and-rescue teams.

The federal labour code prohibits strike or lockout for grain vessels, which is why the BCMEA’s lockout notice excludes that part of the ports’ operations.

The Maritime Employers Association had asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to review whether longshoremen carry out essential work in a bid to shield the docks from strike threats.

A ruling establishing certain port services, such as the movement of prescription drugs, as “essential” would bar a full strike or lockout in the interest of public safety or security.

Are longshore jobs desirable?

Workers represented by ILWU do work at every stage of shipping in B.C.’s ports. They include people loading and unloading cargo from ships, gantry drivers, tradespeople like mechanics and millwrights, welders, grain machine operators and first aid attendants.

The base hourly rate for unionized workers at B.C. ports as of April 2017 was $42 per hour, which would be equivalent to a yearly salary of over $75,000, assuming a 35-hour work week. Workers earn more for night shifts and holidays and earn higher pay for more specialized work.

The jobs can also be dangerous. A worker died last October at Neptune Terminals in North Vancouver, in an incident involving “yard equipment,” according to the company’s website. An experienced ironworker died at the same coal terminal in 2016.

So is this lockout the same as a strike?

No, but there is job action going on at B.C.’s ports, too.

A strike is the right of unionized workers to withold their labour in order to pressure employers. Strikes — or the threat of strikes — are unions’ biggest bargaining chip. The right to strike has been affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada as a form of free expression under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Lockouts are the prerogative of employers to refuse to let their unionized employees work. It’s a way of applying pressure on the workers, who lose wages during both lockouts and strikes.

Canada’s labour laws put some restrictions on both lockouts and strikes.

The BCMEA gave notice of a lockout to commence Thursday at 8 a.m. Prior to that, ILWU members carried out a strike vote May 8 and 9, in which 98.4 per cent of members who voted approved of striking against BCMEA “if necessary.”

The union began “limited and targeted” job action Monday morning. The union didn’t provide full details, but the action included witholding limited work, like refusing overtime, at two port terminal locations: GCT Deltaport and GCT Vanterm. The union said the actions would apply pressure on the BCMEA but would not shut down the port.

Local companies said the action had already begun to impact them Tuesday.

The BCMEA wrote in a press release Tuesday that the limited job action prevented the employers from operating the ports in an effective and safe way, and that cargo was already being diverted. The employer association said the job action was the reason the workers were being locked out.

With files from Perrin Grauer and Jen St. Denis