Businesses prepare for ‘massively busy’ time playing catchup after tentative deal at B.C. ports

The last 13 days have involved plenty of patience for the folks at Aheer Transportation in Delta, B.C., where truckers have been laid off and the lots have been virtually silent because of the strike at the ports.

With news of a tentative deal on Thursday, mechanics and co-ordinators were swinging into action to prepare to clear out the backlog of shipments that has piled up during the work stoppage, according to the company's CEO, Shinda Aheer.

"For us right now, we're already panicking. … Tomorrow, the floodgates will open and this is gonna be packed," he told CBC News on Thursday.

"It's a jam that we all need to work together. We're prepared for it. I figure, three to four weeks here, we're going to be massively busy."

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada and the B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) announced Thursday morning that they had agreed to a tentative four-year deal to end the strike. The terms have yet to be made public, and both sides still need to ratify the agreement.

WATCH | It will takes weeks to clear the backlog of containers:

B.C. port strike is over, but it will take weeks to clear the backlog of goods

15 hours ago

Duration 1:55

As the union and employer reach a tentative four-year deal, B.C. port workers are back on the job after nearly two weeks on strike. Now, all eyes are focused on when goods and supplies can start moving again.

About 7,400 workers have been on strike since July 1, halting shipments in and out of about 30 ports in B.C., including Canada's largest, the Port of Vancouver.

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade says there are 63,000 shipping containers stuck on vessels waiting at B.C. ports to be unloaded.

Work was already set to begin again at the ports with Thursday's 4:30 p.m. PT shift, according to the BCMEA.

The news has already prompted forestry giant Canfor to announce it will resume operations next week at its Northwood Pulp Mill in Prince George, where about 450 workers were laid off because of the strike.

Fiona Famulak, president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, said that business owners are feeling anxious to see the supply chain moving again.

"Manufacturers in particular are waiting for product, all the way from raw materials to glassware to steel for rebar," she said.

"They tell us that for every day of the strike, they need three days to catch up. … There's going to be some catchup."

Dennis Darby, CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, said in a statement that manufacturers would be spending the "next several months sorting through the damage and getting caught up."