SURREY, BC – Container truck drivers servicing Port Metro Vancouver will meet to discuss potential action following Monday’s proposal from the B.C. government for sector-wide wage cuts.

“A deal is a deal. Truck drivers have every right to expect that the wages and round-trip rates negotiated will be honoured,” said Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s B.C. area director.

The meeting will be held Dec. 21, 2014 at 2 p.m. at the Dhaliwal Banquet Hall in Surrey.

As we reported on Tuesday, the trucker’s union, Unifor, is disappointed with the measures the province is taking to address chronic price undercutting and long wait times at the port.

The province of B.C. has proposed a new rate structure for truckers at Port Metro Vancouver, under which hourly employees will initially get $25.13 per hour and owner-operators will be paid about $50 per hour. The rate is expected to jump by over $1 after one year of service, according to the agreed upon Joint Action Plan.

“We’re used to companies undercutting each other, but the B.C. government is undercutting the rates we negotiated with them in March,” said Paul Johal, president of Unifor-Vancouver Container Truckers’ Association (VCTA). “This will not bring labour peace at the Port.

Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing more than 305,000 workers. It was formed Labour Day weekend 2013 when the Canadian Auto Workers and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions merged.