As the BC port strike nears the end of its second week — with no end in sight — more than half of small businesses say they are being negatively impacted according to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)..Moreover, 75% are calling on the federal government to make ending the strike a top priority.."Supply chains have just started to recover from the disruptions caused by the pandemic, so many businesses will feel this latest setback extra hard," said CFIB president Dan Kelly. ."We're hearing from members across the country who are worried about missing critical sales, delayed production or orders or an inability to get their products to export markets because of the strike."."The federal government must step in and get shipments moving again as quickly as possible.".Fully 53% of respondents said the closure of the Port of Vancouver would directly affect them. Only 16% said the strike would have no impact, with another 31% unsure, CFIB said in a release..Nearly 7,400 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada walked off the job on Canada Day at 30 West Coast ports, including Vancouver and Prince Rupert, two of the three busiest ports in the country..Now, American port workers at ports in Seattle, Tacoma, Oakland and Los Angeles are refusing to handle containers rerouted from Vancouver as a show of solidarity..The outage is covering a broad swath of industries in all regions, ranging from an Ontario retailer waiting on a shipment of footwear and clothes for back-to-school season, to steel deliveries in Alberta and a specialty beverage producer in BC waiting on receipt of 48,000 glass bottles, according to the CFIB..Unless the parties negotiate a deal immediately through collective bargaining, the group is urging the federal government to enact back-to-work legislation.."Enough is enough. The federal government can't just stand on the sidelines with its arms folded. They need to intervene quickly. Small businesses cannot continually bear the brunt of service and supply chain disruptions," added Jasmin Guénette, the CFIB’s vice-president of national affairs. .According to an estimate from the Railway Association of Canada, it could take three to five days for every day the strike lasts for networks and supply chains to recover..Even American trade groups are calling on Canada to get its act together. More than $1 billion a day of US imports from Canada move through Vancouver and Prince Rupert alone, stoking the possibility of higher inflation..“The strike is affecting everyone, either directly for those companies that use BC as a major transit center or an e-commerce hub, or indirectly, as cargo is diverted to other ports,” Steve Lamar, CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, told CNBC..“The Canadian government should use all its tools, including recalling Parliament, to get people back to work and goods moving again.” .On the weekend, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called on Ottawa to take “urgent” action to end the dispute. More than $12.4 billion of the province’s exports are shipped via BC ports, she said in a news release and a statement posted to social media.."We are now (more than) a week into the work stoppage and urgent federal action is required to resolve this dispute and mitigate economic damage to the country,” Smith wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau."."The stoppage of trade at the ports will have significant negative economic consequences that undermine both Alberta's and Canada's competitiveness and reputation as a reliable supplier to international customers."."For these reasons, Alberta supports an immediate recall of Parliament for the consideration of legislation to resolve this critically important issue," Smith added..Negotiations between the union and the BC Maritime Employers Association have failed to produce a deal, although talks resumed on the weekend. Key sticking points center around wages, automation and contracting out work..The online survey has been active since July 6 and will be closed on July 15. Thus far there have been 1,414 responses. For comparison purposes, CFIB said a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of at most 2.6%, 19 times out of 20.
