04:10 PM EST, 11/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Business groups are urging Justin Trudeau's government to put an end to labor strife at Canada's largest ports, as it did with railways in August, to avoid chaos in the country's supply chains, Bloomberg is reporting Monday

It noted hundreds of dock foremen at British Columbia ports have been locked out for a week. Montreal port employers did the same on Sunday, locking out 1,200 unionized employees after those workers rejected a contract offer that included pay increases of about 20% over six years.

Together, the work disruptions are affecting ports that handle some C$1.2 billion ($860 million) of goods a day, businesses say. They want Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon to force the matter to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which can order the sides to arbitration to resolve the dispute.

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