But the federal government is walking a difficult tightrope between the demands of the business community and protecting workers' constitutional rights, labour experts said.
After the results of the ratification vote were announced, federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan issued a statement saying he was directing federal officials to review the entire case to avoid a port disruption of this magnitude from happening in the future. "Although the work stoppage is over, it will take weeks for the backlog to be addressed and, as a result, the financial consequences for small businesses across Canada will be challenging for months to come."
But some would also be difficult to enact, he said. Workers have constitutional rights when it comes to labour action, including striking. "It was made quite apparent by the BCMEA that they had no intention of showing its workers any respect by coming to the table to make a deal," Baryer wrote.