OTTAWA (Reuters) -The Canadian government is relieved that dock workers in the Pacific province of British Columbia have lifted their strike notice, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said on Thursday.
The dock worker’s union said late on Wednesday that it had lifted a strike notice issued for Saturday. It acted after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directed a crisis meeting to pursue all options to ensure the stability of supply chains.
“I am relieved to hear that the union in British Columbia … has withdrawn their notice to strike,” Alghabra told reporters in Montreal.
“I’m hoping that the union and the employer find a way to resolve this once and for all, and our government will continue to continue to do whatever we can to help the parties to reach an agreement,” he said.
The strike has upended operations at Vancouver and Prince Rupert, two of Canada’s three busiest ports, which are key gateways for exporting natural resources and commodities and bringing in raw materials.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Ismail Shakil; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Nick Zieminski)
