Port truckers on strike in Vancouver

Port truckers on strike in Vancouver    About 1,000 container truck drivers of the Vancouver Container Truck Association have gone on strike in the port of Vancouver, British Columbia, to protest low pay and rising fuel costs.
   The dispute between the union and employers is immobilizing between 30 and 40 percent of the containerized cargo that normally moves through the Canadian West Coast port.
   CBC quoted Paul Uppal, a spokesman for the truckers association, as saying that most truckers work 10 to 12 hours a day to gross between C$350 ($284) and C$400 ($325). But with skyrocketing fuel costs, they need to get at least C$500 ($406) a day to make a profit, the union spokesman argued.
   Gordon Houston, Vancouver Port Authority president and chief executive officer, on Monday called for a quick resolution of the issue with the help of a facilitator.
   The proportion of containers that move to and from the Canadian port by truck is 31 percent for imports and 63 percent for export.
   The port of Vancouver said the first to feel the impact of the dispute will likely be local exporters of food and forest products, who rely on the container trucks to get their goods to the port.
   “Labor disruptions that affect the movement of cargo risk damaging the ports reputation in the international marketplace, leading shippers to divert cargo through competing ports in the United States,” the port of Vancouver warned.