10:21 AM EST, 11/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon has ordered the Canada Industrial Relations Board to intervene in labour disputes at Canadian ports in a move to impose binding arbitration, The Globe and Mail is reporting Tuesday.

The decision on Tuesday by MacKinnon will affect four B.C. ports, the Port of Montreal and the Port of Quebec, it noted.

"I have directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the resumption of all operations and functions at the ports, and to assist the parties by imposing final and binding arbitration," he said in a statement. "I have also directed the board to extend the term of the existing collective agreements until new ones are reached."

Tuesday's report noted the BC Maritime Employers Association locked out about 730 ship and dock forepersons on Nov. 4, hours after the union started what it called limited strike action that included a ban on overtime.

Members of Local 514 are supervisors of 7,400 workers at the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada.

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