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Dockworkers Call Off Strike in Canada After 24 Hours of Drama

  • Union threatened to walk out on Saturday, then reversed course
  • Dispute has created supply woes in agriculture, retail sectors

International Longshore and Warehouse Union workers picket in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

Photographer: Don Mackinnon/AFP/Getty Images
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Workers at Canada’s west coast ports withdrew plans to go back on strike, just hours after threatening to restart a disruption that would have paralyzed shipments at the country’s busiest maritime hub.

The International Longshore & Warehouse Union had told workers late Tuesday to go back on strike after rejecting a tentative contract. That decision was ruled “unlawful” on Wednesday morning by Canada’s industrial-relations board because the union failed to give 72 hours of notice.