Rhetoric ramps up in place of talks; as two sides of BC port dispute remain at odds

Six Days into a strike along the coast of BC,
 all remains silent on the Prince Rupert waterfront 

Day Six of the BC Port Strike arrived this morning not with news a return to work on the waterfront, but with a bounty of reading material for those involved in the disputer to take a look at.

That as the employers called for 'binding arbitration' and ILWU officials expressed concerns over moves taken out of the 'strikebreaking playbook".

The back and forth came by way two information releases within the last 24 hours.

The first fame on Wednesday from the BCMEA which represents the Port terminals in the province which observed that the dispute is in a deadlock, noting that it believes that Canada's reputation as key part of the global supply chain is at risk.

The Employers re-issuing a call for a binding arbitration process

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The ILWU countered that statement with one of their own this morning. 

The union information release expressing concern over the approach the employers have taken and accusing the BCMEA of smearing the workers through what it called an anonymous and misleading information campaign.

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Still silent through the back and forth of six days of suspended activity on the nation's west coast ports is the Federal Government.

Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan has been in Vancouver since prior to the workers taking to the picket lines on Canada Day.  

But the Liberal Cabinet Minister has not had a lot to say in public towards the dispute or what plans the Federal government may have to see the ports reopen.  

O'Regan so far, holding to his original commentary from June 28th of standing by with mediators if required to restart discussions.

As the government remans silent, pressure is building on Ottawa to take some action to get things moving on the waterfront. 

Update: The Minister put out a social media post on Thursday towards the state of the dispute. 

Though it's more of a political damage control missive than any constructive information update on the pace of negotiations, or towards a potential settlement for the two sides of the negotitiaons.

A number of Industry officials and some politicians are echoing the Port operators concerns over the damage being done to Canada in the global marketplace.

On July 4th the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters issued a call for Federal action towards the strike.

Federal Government must tact now to end strike ad BC Ports

One politician sharing concerns on the situation on the west coast, was Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who used her social media stream on Wednesday to highlight what's at stake for her province.

To this point British Columbia Premier David Eby has not commented since the strike began, he had previously noted in late June that he was 'profoundly worried" on the impact that a port strike may bring to the province.

Summer vacations seem to have kept most other political officials off their social media streams when it comes to the ongoing strike, with little in the way of commentary to be found from MLA's with port workers and port officials among their constituents.

Updates from the two principles of the dispute can be reviewed from the links below:

BCMEA (website) 
(social media page here)

ILWU (website)
(social media page here)

Our archive of notes on the BC Port Strike can be accessed here, those are updated on a regular basis.