Canada moves to end port lockouts and orders binding arbitration

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s labor minister said Tuesday he is intervening to end lockouts of workers at the country’s two biggest ports.

Labor Minister Steven Mackinnon said the negotiations have reached an impasse and he is directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the resumption of all operations at the ports of Vancouver and Montreal and move the talks to binding arbitration.

Port of Montreal’s workers were locked out Sunday and workers in Vancouver on the Pacific Coast have been locked out since Nov. 4.

“There is a limit to the economic self destruction that Canadians are prepared to accept,” MacKinnon said. “In the face of economic self destruction there is an obligation to intervene. As minister of labor that responsibility falls to me.”

MacKinnon said $1.3 billion Canadian dollars ($930 million) of goods is affected every day. He said it was impacting supply chains, the economy and Canada's reputation as reliable trading partner.

Business groups had been calling for government intervention to get the flow of goods moving again.

The move to end the stoppages comes after the government stepped in to end halted operations at Canada’s two main railways in August.

MacKinnon says he hopes operations can be restored in a matter of days.

The Maritime Employers Association locked out 1,200 longshore workers at the Port of Montreal on Sunday after workers voted to reject what employers called a final contract offer. The workers were seeking raises of 20% over four years.

The job action came after port workers in British Columbia were locked out amid a labor dispute involving more than 700 longshore supervisors, resulting in a paralysis of container cargo traffic at terminals on the West Coast.

Canada Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon speaks with media during a news conference, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon speaks with media during a news conference, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon speaks with media during a news conference, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, front center, and MP Jenny Kwan, front second right, attend a rally with locked out International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 port workers and their supporters, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon speaks with media during a news conference, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

Locked out International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 port workers and supporters attend a rally, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but remains at historically healthy levels.

Jobless claim applications rose by 9,000 to 224,000 for the week of Nov. 30, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's more than the 214,000 analysts were forecasting.

Continuing claims, the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits, fell by 25,000 to 1.87 million for the week of Nov. 23. That's down from the three-year high levels it had been at the past few weeks.

The four-week average of weekly claims, which quiets some of the weekly volatility, rose by 750 to 218,250.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs.

While the job markets has shown some softening recently, it remains healthy and has exceeded most expectations considering that interest rates have been elevated in recent years. The Federal Reserve jacked up rates in 2022 and into 2023 in an attempt to squelch the sky-high inflation that developed when the U.S. economy rebounded from the brief but sharp pandemic recession.

The Fed has cut its benchmark rate at its last two meetings in response to receding inflation, which has fallen close to the U.S. central bank’s 2% target.

Earlier this week, the government reported that U.S. job openings rebounded to 7.7 million in October from a 3 1/2 year low of 7.4 million in September, a sign that businesses are still seeking workers even though hiring has cooled.

In October, U.S. employers added a paltry 12,000 jobs, a total that economists say was crimped by the effects of strikes and hurricanes that left many workers temporarily off payrolls.

Analysts forecast that the government will report on Friday that U.S. employers added 215,000 jobs in November, a healthy figure more in line with recent months.

A help wanted sign is displayed at a restaurant in Chicago, Ill., Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)