Port of Vancouver Grain Workers Ratify New Contract Agreement

Port of Vancouver terminal grain workers have given their blessing to a new contract. 

Members of Grain Workers Union Local 333 voted about 67% in favour of the collective agreement with the Vancouver Terminal Elevators Association (VTEA), according to a weekend Facebook post from union president Douglas Lea-Smith. Now ratified, the new contract will expire at the end of 2027. 

Approximately 650 members of the union walked off the job Sept. 24 amid the Prairie harvest after failing to come to terms on a new deal. However, federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon announced in a social media post on Sept. 27 that the two sides had come to an agreement with the help of federal mediators.  

No details of the new contract were released but the union recommended acceptance of the deal.   

The Grain Growers of Canada warned the strike would stop all shipments of bulk grain from the Port of Vancouver, resulting in a loss of $35 million in exports daily.