Eby ‘Profoundly Worried’ as BC Port Union Issues Strike Notice Covering 7,400 Staff

A seaplane prepares to land on the harbour as gantry cranes used to load and unload cargo containers are seen at port, in Vancouver, on April 25, 2023. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Federal ministers and British Columbia Premier David Eby are urging the province’s port workers and employers to find a way to avert job action after the workers’ union issued a 72-hour strike notice and said its members were ready to walk out on Saturday.

The strike notice issued Wednesday by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada affects about 7,400 terminal cargo loaders and 49 of the province’s waterfront employers at more than 30 B.C. ports including Canada’s busiest, Vancouver.