WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Port of Vancouver

foremen will be locked out on Monday unless they scrap a

proposed strike, employers at Canada's biggest port said on

Friday, but grain handling would not be affected.

Canada's west coast ports are major outlets for the

country's resource exports, including potash, coal, forestry

products, pork and beef. A 13-day strike last year disrupted

more than C$6 billion in trade at Vancouver and Port Rupert.

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association said the

proposed lockout of more than 700 foremen was preventative as

the unit of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union

representing them had already issued a 72-hour strike notice.

If the union withdraws the strike notice, Monday's lockout

will not go ahead, the association said in a statement.

The two sides are in protracted talks over a labor deal and

have been negotiating with the help of a federal mediator. The

stoppage would also affect the port of Prince Rupert.

"In anticipation of escalating and unpredictable strike

action, the BCMEA has made a decision to take defensive action

in the form of a coastwide lockout," it said in a statement.

"It will not affect longshoring operations on grain vessels

or cruise operations."

The association said the lockout notice has been issued in

order to "facilitate a safe and orderly wind down of operations"

in anticipation of a strike.

ILWU local 514 president Frank Morena said in a statement

that it had only planned "limited job action" such as refusing

overtime and accepting some technological changes, Canadian

Press reported.

The impasse comes after a long-simmering dispute over pay

and working conditions, including concerns over automation, with

each side accusing the other of bargaining in bad faith.

The Port of Montreal, where workers are represented by the

Canadian Union of Public Employees, saw the start on Thursday of

a strike at two terminals operated by Termont, which handle 40%

of the port's container traffic, but only 15% of its cargo.

Grain and other exports from the west coast were hit in

August by a labor dispute at Canada's two major railways, which

the federal government ended by imposing binding arbitration.

The government has resisted calls to interfere in collective

bargaining in other disputes, other than offering mediation.