For Immediate Release

VANCOUVER: Impacts of the truck strike at the Port of Vancouver are now being felt across the country, according to Captain Gordon Houston, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Port Authority.

Railways are refusing to load marine containers in other parts of Canada that are destined for the Vancouver market, due to the potential impact on their operations. "This is compromising our national transportation system as goods start to pile up elsewhere in the country, as well as impacting the livelihoods of people who depend on those shipments," said Houston. Shipping lines are also holding back goods destined for Vancouver from as far away as Europe.

Brian Gerrior, a national manager with Sears Canada, says his company is taking a second look at other ports as a result of the dispute. "The word on the street is that Vancouver, Canada's largest port, is unstable in regard to its overall labour force. It makes business nervous, so we're reassessing how we bring goods into this country. Frankly, it may be better to spend an extra couple weeks at sea and to come in through an east coast port, if that's what it takes to make sure the product gets to the customer," Gerrior said.

"The impact of this dispute is now reaching well beyond British Columbia. This dispute is damaging the reputation of the Port of Vancouver as a reliable gateway and that will lead to a loss of business and jobs," said Houston. The port's major customers are saying that due to the unreliable labour climate in British Columbia, they are looking at diverting cargo on a permanent basis. "If truckers keep this up much longer there will be fewer containers for them to haul, making it even more difficult to earn a living, and the temporary layoffs we've seen to date will become permanent."

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For more information, please contact:

Brian Gerrior
National Manager, Product Excellence
and International Support Services
Sears Canada
(416) 941-3203 (office)
(416) 580-2052 (cell)

Duncan Wilson
Senior Advisor, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Vancouver Port Authority
(604) 665-9067 (office)
(604) 665-9073 (fax)
(778) 231-6991 (cellular)
duncan.wilson@portvancouver.com


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