Labour Dispute

ISSUE

There is a labour dispute at the shipper’s or at the receiver’s, which has resulted in a picket line or other obstruction blocking the entrance to the docks.

ACTION

1. Advise us of the situation as soon as you become aware of it: we will have to advise the carrier of the situation as you have communicated to us, and the carrier will have the option of accepting the assignment and/or of cancelling the assignment upon arrival at your facility.
2. If your facility is open and the access to your facility is open, albeit it delayed, we are prepared to source a truck for you, subject to items 3 and 4 below.
3. However, we will not source a truck if there are reports of violence or civil disobedience on the picket line, and we will not pressure a carrier or driver to take a shipment that may require crossing a picket line.
4. If unexpected problems arise at a picket line, we will cancel a pick-up and a “truck ordered, not used” fee will apply, or we will divert a delivery to a local cartage company to be held until the problems ease, with the various fees that come with that type of diversion.
5. We will advise you if we are not able to source a truck that is comfortable with your situation, and if a sourced truck subsequently cancels. If a carrier accepts a shipment that involves dealing with a labour dispute, and there is then a subsequent decision, by whomever, including by the carrier, to cancel the pick-up or delivery, then there will be charges and fees assessed that will to be the account of the customer.

EXPLANATION

A company that elects to continue operations during a labour dispute usually does so after an assessment of priorities and risks, and as part of a strategy for balancing customer service and financial strength with the pressures of the labour situation.

However, the company’s priorities, risks and strategies are very probably different from ours and from those our carrier partner. So it is important to understand that bringing outside entities into the midst of an internal labour dispute may not always be in all party’s best interests.

If it is possible to serve our customer’s transportation requirements in this type of situation, we will do so. But we will monitor events closely and will not hesitate to cancel, at the customer’s expense, at the first hint of safety issues, violence or excessive delay.

IMPACT & TYPICAL RESOLUTION

There may be no impact on service, or we may find that we are unable to provide service. This type of situation can be dynamic and unpredictable.

In the grand scheme of things, there will be a small number of pick-ups or deliveries that can be made with incident or significant delay. But it is our experience that, in these situations, events and priorities usually evolve to the point where all concerned agree it is wise to halt freight transportation activities.