“Alberta’s government is disappointed and dismayed that yet another work stoppage is occurring in Canada’s transportation sector that has the potential to create widespread damage to Canadians, our country’s economy and our reputation as a reliable trading partner.
“Alberta is a landlocked province that relies on the safe, dependable movement of goods to and from West Coast ports. These ports export about $50 million worth of Alberta’s key commodities every day including agricultural, energy and manufacturing-related products. A prolonged work stoppage will disrupt the movement of these products, backlog other transportation networks such as rail and trucking and damage the economies of Alberta and Canada.
“Our government respects the collective bargaining process and encourages the employers and the ship and dock forepersons union to continue working with federal mediators towards an agreement to ensure there are minimal disruptions at West Coast ports.
“We also call on the federal government to take whatever steps are necessary to maintain critical port operations. Going forward, we encourage the federal government to respond proactively and more effectively to labour disputes affecting essential components of our transportation and supply chain networks, especially those with a limited number of service providers wherein disruptions lead to severe and widespread consequences due to the lack of alternative options.
“We are calling on the federal government to urgently intervene with binding arbitration, and improve its strategy for managing labour relations, especially within federally regulated transportation sectors. The work stoppages we are seeing every year are a clear indication of the breakdown in these relations and require immediate attention to re-establish stability in our supply chains.”