Feb.27--MAJOR Canadian transport union Unifor, representing 400 surviving Vancouver harbour truckers, want the newly appointed head of the licensing and rate setting bureau, Andy Smith, to step down because he works for the port operators.
In a letter to the British Columbia provincial transport minister, the union said Mr Smith can't impartially serve as the container trucking commissioner because he is also head of an association that represents marine terminals.
Terminal operators have been accused of pressuring harbour truckers to cut rates, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce.
Provincial authorities appointed Mr Smith, also president and CEO of the British Columbia Maritime Employers' Association, to head a programme to reduce the number of truckers working the waterfront as well as set rates.
Under the programme, the port's harbour truckers were cut by 600 to 1,450.
"The dual roles of the new commissioner are incompatible with the standards of independence and impartiality necessary to the conduct of that office," Unifor national president Jerry Dias said in a letter to Transport Minister Todd Stone.
(Source:shippingazette)