The union representing Port of Vancouver dockworkers has delivered a strong thumbs-down to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s (VFPA) proposed multibillion-dollar container terminal expansion project at Roberts Bank.
In a February 9 open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal cabinet, the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) congratulated the federal government for successfully hosting the recent COP15 environmental summit but pointed to the VFPA’s $3.5 billion Terminal 2 expansion project as running counter to COP15’s aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by the end of the decade.
Terminal 2, which would add 2.4 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to the port’s annual container handling capacity, would require the construction of an artificial island in what Terminal 2 opponents point out is an environmentally sensitive marine area.
The ILWU also argues that the project’s sliding timelines and ballooning costs are a “major risk to all port tenants, operators and labour in an uncertain time.”
It also expressed concerns about Terminal 2’s automation and the subsequent job losses it would result in and the amount of money the port would need to borrow to finance the project.
Read more in an article from Business in Vancouver.