Members of Prince Rupert's labour movement were on Ridley Island yesterday, protesting the arrival of a ship to Prince Rupert Grain they say was loaded by “scab labour” in the U.S.
Three locals of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) joined members of the Grain Workers Union (GWU) and the Prince Rupert Labour Council in an information picket designed to raise awareness of the arrival of King Felipe. The ship was loaded at the Vancouver Washington grain terminal where United Grain has locked out the ILWU after imposing a collective agreement the union found unacceptable and brought in non-union workers to carry on operations.
That is something Rob Ashton of ILWU Canada said is simply unacceptable.
“The labour movement in Prince Rupert is not going to stand for this and the labour movement in B.C. is not going to stand for this ... this is the first vessel of its kind to be loaded with scab labour in the U.S. and brought to Canada. We don't want any more,” he said.
“We want to make B.C the port province in the world, but by God stop bringing scab loaded vessels into out province.”
Ashton said the decision to even service the ship was a tough one, but since the product being loaded was produced by Canadian workers the union didn't want “to punish them”. However, he hopes this will be the last time this situation arises.
“We're hoping that our employers don't bring the American labour dispute here to Canada. We're hoping this drives that point home,” he said.
“The ILWU warned the B.C. Maritime Employers Association that there was a labour dispute down there and asked them not to bring the problem here. Unfortunately they brought the vessel in and we're going to have to deal with it ... we're not going to stand for it. If one union gets punished we're going to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.”