The group representing B.C. port employers has lost its appeal to appear before an arbitrator to seek damages from the 2023 longshore workers’ strike.

In a unanimous decision released last week, the Federal Court of Appeal found that the B.C. Maritime Employers Association couldn’t pursue arbitration because the collective bargaining agreement had already expired.

The panel of three judges found there was no “bridging clause” in the agreement that would allow it to remain in effect after expiring, which happened before the strike.

The BCMEA says it’s owed damages from the longshore workers’ union after its members walked off the job in July 2023 without giving proper 72 hour notice.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union had previously given notice to strike, but halted activities to consider a tentative agreement. Days later, the union’s leadership caucus rejected the deal and the strike immediately resumed.

The next day, the Canada Industrial Relations Board declared the strike illegal because of the lack of notice, a decision that was upheld in 2024 by the Federal Court.

The tentative agreement was eventually put to a vote of ILWU members, but it was rejected. A new deal would be reached days later before striking resumed.

The BCMEA attempted to recoup damages from the day of illegal striking by using the arbitration process in the collective bargaining agreement. But the ILWU challenged the use of this process over lack of jurisdiction and the matter was referred to the federal labour board.

The CIRB agreed with the union that arbitration couldn’t proceed because while strikes were prohibited in the agreement, it was no longer in effect.

The agreement expired at the end of March 31, 2023 once notice to bargain on a new deal was submitted, which happened months earlier.

While the agreement expired on that date, the two sides immediately entered a federally mandated cooling off period where strikes and lockouts are banned.

The board said while the agreement remained in effect during the cooling off period, that had ended before the start of the strike.

In dismissing the BCMEA’s challenge, Federal Court of Appeal accepted this interpretation and said the board reached a conclusion that was “rational and internally coherent and that is available under the statutory scheme.”

This decision doesn’t prevent the BCMEA from bringing forward a separate case against the union outside of the arbitration process.

The two sides are set to begin talks on a new labour agreement this fall.

The frequency of labour disputes at the West Coast prompted then labour minister Seamus O’Regan to order an industrial inquiry commission in the fall of 2023. A subsequent report was filed in the spring of 2025 and called the system “broken but not beyond repair.”

The report recommended the creation of a special mediator role to support negotiations and give Ottawa insight into challenging labour disputes, as well as having all B.C. longshore workers and foremen take part in the same bargaining process. But it supported keeping in place a separate process for two coal terminal operators it dubbed “historically excluded employers.”

In the spring, Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu ordered consultations on the report’s recommendations and other labour issues in federally-regulated sectors. She started a second wave of consultations this summer and it’s widely expected it will inform government legislation that will be tabled in the fall.