VANCOUVER, BC- Industry undercutting was one of the reasons that container truckers at Port Metro Vancouver went on strike early in 2014 and now the trucker’s union, UNIFOR, is disappointed with the measures the province is taking to fix the issue.

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.

UNIFOR’s Gavin McGarrigle commented: “They’ve muddied the waters, and the end result is hourly drivers could lose as much as $50 a day, $250 a week based on these new rates and owner-operators could lose quite a lot of money. They’ve got an early Christmas present for the trucking companies that want to undercut, because the rates of pay that they put out there actually move things backward instead of moving it forward.”

A bit of math shows that at the time they’re hired at $25 per hour and if company drivers were to work an eight-hour day for five-days a week, they would make $1,000 per week and $48,000 per year. Double that for owner-operators.

Under the Joint Action Plan, Vince Ready and Corinn Bell advocated for a pay-model whereby owner-operators get paid by trip and are paid a minimum call-out rate of $300.00 per day. Company drivers, Ready and Bell advised, are to be paid an hourly rate and when called into work, should be paid a minimum of four hours’ pay, irrespective of hours worked.

Furthermore, company drivers paid trip rates rather than hourly rates should be paid a minimum of $40 per trip and a minimum call-out of $160 per day; rates which are a minimum and are not meant to interfere with any superior agreements. If any existing trip rates are reduced as a result of the report, Ready and Bell recommend that the company be subject to sanctions.

McGarrigle told News 1130 in Vancouver he’s also concerned with new regulation that, beginning in 2019, truckers will need to replace their vehicle every ten years. He says that’s too costly. 

In addition to minimum rates for all port truckers on and off dock, new regulations also include a two-percent fuel surcharge, an anonymous whistleblower line, better audits for trucking companies, extended hours and pay for truckers forced to wait at the port for their loads and mediation help for truckers and employers.

You can read the full report here.