OOCL executives on alert as strike-free period nears expiration
Industrial action could affect two terminals as soon as Monday morning
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) executives will be this weekend keeping a watchful eye on the port of Vancouver, where a labour dispute threatens to close its two container terminals.
In what is becoming a familiar scenario at ports on North America's west coast, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and port employers are embroiled in a contract dispute which could see the union give 72-hour strike notice as of midnight on Sunday (west-coast time).
An 11th-hour appointment of a federal mediator late last week eased the standoff, with the Waterfront Foremen Employers Association saying it would not issue lockout notice while the mediator guided negotiations.
The union, however, only promised not to move for a strike until Sunday at midnight. The sides remain far apart on working hours, recruitment, retraining and holiday issues.
Asked if OOCL was prepared for a lockdown of its terminals at Vanterm and Deltaport, a spokesman said: 'What contingency plans can you make for a lockout? From a shipping point of view, the obvious alternative is to divert our carriers through Seattle-Tacoma. But if we do close down, that will be an alliance issue.'
OOCL is a member of the Grand Alliance, whose members made a healthy contribution to Vancouver's strong first-half results.
Throughput, more than 60 per cent of which crosses OOCL-managed docks in the city, surged 16 per cent to 752,819 teus (20ft equivalent units) in the first six months, fuelled by strong demand for Asian products.
Laden imports were up 21 per cent to more than 346,700 teus.
Orient Overseas International, OOCL's parent company, generated a little more than US$200 million in sales from its terminal operations business last year, or about 9 per cent of group revenue.
It also has terminals at the port of New York-New Jersey, but Vancouver's contribution has been steadily outperforming the east-coast terminals.
The group's biggest contribution from terminal operations came in 2000, when it realised earnings before interest and tax of US$25 million.
The Vancouver Port Authority estimated that a closure would cost the city up to US$60 million a day.
