Vancouver Port Strike BDO Dunwoody/Chamber Weekly CEO/Business Leader Poll by COMPAS in the Financial Post for Publication August 1, 2005 COMPAS Inc. Public Opinion and Customer Research August 1, 2005
1.0. Introduction CEOs and business leaders in the weekly Financial Post/COMPAS web-panel were asked for their views about the trucker strike at the Port of Vancouver. A record number of panellists chose not to participate in the survey, a significant number volunteering that they had not followed the issue closely enough to feel comfortable offering an opinion. Those who did participate felt very comfortable offering opinions. The main conclusions from this survey, sponsored by BDO Dunwoody LLP and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce are that The Martin Government earns a decidedly failing grade with most respondents feeling that its involvement is overdue, The strike will hurt the economy as a whole with the main impact being felt by the Port itself, the lower mainland, retailers, and exporters, The truckers themselves are most to blame partly for resorting to intimidation and partly for wanting the bargaining rights of unionized workers as well as the business rights of self-employed entrepreneurs, While blameworthy for non-involvement, Ottawa is not especially blameworthy for not having offered truckers relief from fuel taxes, The Port should be treated as an essential or semi-essential service with limited rights to strike available to truckers. 2.0. Martin Government Asleep The federal government earns a decidedly failing grade (39% score on a school report-card type scale) for its judgment in the situation, as shown on table 2a. More than two-thirds of business leaders and CEOs on the panel believe that Ottawa s involvement is overdue, mostly long overdue, as shown in table 2b. According to more than one CEO, Ottawa s non-involvement reflects the zeitgeist of the ruling party: It just proves the Liberals are incompetent at managing the economy. They would rather "rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic" (i.e. gay marriage) than do what is necessary to chart a course of prosperity. 1
The federal government has consistently ignored business concerns about the labour structure relating to the port. It is just another example of how they do not understand the economy or the importance of the port to the West. Table 2a: (Q2) Using a 100 point, school report-type scale, what performance score would you give the Martin government for its judgment in the situation? Mean DNK 39 5 Table 2b: (Q1) Thinking of the federal government and the Port of Vancouver s truckers strike, would you say that Ottawa s involvement [ROTATE POLES] % Is long overdue 38 Is somewhat overdue 24 Would be just right if it began now 14 Is somewhat premature 11 Is very premature 4 Don t know/no opinion 10 3.0. Main Losers among Many Port of Vancouver, Lower Mainland, Retailers, and Exporters Respondents were asked to indicate to what extent the Port troubles would affect various players as well as the national economy as a whole. The majority view is that the strike will do harm just about everywhere. The Port itself will be most affected because of a loss of business to U.S. west coast ports, as shown in table 3. The lower mainland will lose transhipment business, retailers will incur losses because of merchandise delays, and Canadian exports will lose because of trans-shipment problems. 2
Table 3: (Q3) Please score the economic or financial impact of the strike, now about a month old, on each of the following, using a 7 point scale where 7 means serious and/or long-term impact and 1, the opposite. Impact on [RANDOMIZE] Port of Vancouver because of potential loss of business to U.S. west coast ports Lower mainland of B.C. because of loss of transshipment business Canadian retailers because of delays in arrival of merchandise and increased shipment costs Canadian exporters because of trans-shipment problems The west coast truckers themselves because of lost income during the strike Canadian economy as a place for investment because of an image of labour unrest Canada s overall economy because of the loss of trade and potential loss of Port business Mean 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 DNK 5.8 34 32 14 12 3 1 1 3 5.4 23 25 25 13 5 3 1 5 5.4 28 19 32 10 5 4 1 3 5.4 23 26 29 9 6 4 1 3 5.2 23 25 23 9 6 4 5 5 5.0 23 13 28 15 12 5 2 3 4.8 19 11 24 24 10 7 2 3 4.0. Truckers Most to Blame Ottawa Not Strongly Condemned for Failure to Offer Truckers Fuel Tax Relief Respondents were asked to assign degrees of blame to various players in the situation. The truckers themselves earn the most criticism, partly for resorting to intimidation and partly for their mixed role of unionized workers and self-employed entrepreneurs. The overwhelming majority find the truckers blameworthy for wanting all 3
the bargaining rights of unionized labour as well as the business rights of self-employed entrepreneurs. A strong complaint of the truckers is the absence of higher revenues to compensate for rising fuel prices. Comparatively few respondents blame the government for not offering a temporary relief from some fuel taxation to help out the truckers. The following comments reflect some of these quantitative findings: There is never any excuse for violence. In my experience, police seem to be more lenient, or at least be reluctant "to get involved" where unions and/or their members perform illegal acts in the course of their "disputes" with employers. In today's day and age unions should not get a "free ride" just because police don't wish to be seen as interfering in a "labour" dispute. If Canada is to take its place as one of the great economies, we should adopt a more friendly business profile, with limitation on unions to badger, blackmail and threaten the general public who always will pay for their "social" policies in the end Even union members suffer when other unions take labour action, as it affects their kids education, their health and safety and general economic well-being. The truckers are independent contractors doing business in a free market. If they cannot stand the heat they should get out, not act like the world owes them a living. They bid on these contracts, now they should live with their decisions. Canada needs to fast track full development of a competing port at Prince Rupert, firstly to meet the growing need for west coast port facilities, and secondly to provide competition to the port of Vancouver and the port of Seattle. The port of Prince Rupert is on direct rail to central Canada, and is also served by a direct highway (The Yellowhead Route). The situation at the Vancouver port is a national disgrace. The provincial and federal governments should be ashamed of themselves. Independent truckers should have the right to strike or park their trucks, but should not have the right to interfere with others wanting to work. They have every right to drive for some other business if they don't like the pay. When the port can't get trucks, then they will have to pay market price for their hauling. Typical B.C. labour attitude toward competitiveness. Typical Vancouver attitude toward the rest of the country. Let's pray Prince Rupert will be better. 4
Table 4: (Q4) Please indicate to what extent each of the following players is to blame, using a 7 point scale where 7 means very blameworthy and 1, the opposite. [RANDOMIZE] The truckers for resorting to threats, intimidation, and violence The truckers for wanting all the bargaining rights of unionized labour as well as the business rights of selfemployed entrepreneurs The trucking companies for not increasing their payments to truckers facing unanticipated increases in fuel costs The federal government for standing by passively Local and provincial governments for not spurring police to take stronger action against the truckers The police for not taking stronger action in this violent atmosphere The B.C. provincial government for not doing more to attract the attention of the federal government The federal government for not offering a temporary relief from some fuel taxation to help out the truckers Mean 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 DNK 6.1 51 21 10 6 5 1 0 6 5.9 39 23 22 7 1 2 0 6 5.1 16 26 20 17 5 6 1 8 5.0 32 13 17 14 5 7 6 5 4.8 21 15 14 23 6 11 3 7 4.6 21 13 19 18 8 9 7 5 4.6 16 18 18 18 6 12 6 5 3.9 11 10 16 18 14 14 12 5 5
5.0. Port of Vancouver A Virtual, Essential Service Most respondents consider the Port of Vancouver to be unique in its impact on the economy and unlike other economic activities, as shown in table 5a. A clear majority would want truckers serving the Port to be treated as an essential or semi-essential service with a limited right to strike, as shown in table 5b. Table 5a: (Q5) Do you consider the Port of Vancouver to be like any other economic activity or unique in its impact on the local and national economies? Please use a 7 point scale where 7 means very unique and 1, just like any other activity in the Canadian economy. Mean 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 DNK 5.0 14 24 35 11 7 2 5 3 Table 5b:(Q6) In your view, should truckers serving the Port of Vancouver be treated as [ROTATE POLES] % An essential service and hence subject to a kind of compulsory arbitration without a right to strike 25 A semi-essential service with a limited right to strike 39 A service like any other with a full right to strike 29 Don t know/no opinion 7 6.0. Methodology The National Post/COMPAS web-survey of CEOs and leaders of small, medium, and large corporations and among executives of the local and national Chambers of Commerce was conducted July 27-29, 2005. Respondents constitute an essentially hand-picked panel with a higher numerical representation of small and medium-sized firms. Because of the small population of CEOs and business leaders from which the sample was drawn, the study can be considered more accurate than comparably sized general public studies. In studies of the general public, surveys of 111 are deemed accurate to within approximately 9.3 percentage points 19 times out of 20. The principal and co-investigator on this study are Conrad Winn, Ph.D and Tamara Gottlieb 6