What happens next in the B.C. port workers' strike? We answer your questions

Just when it looked like it was ending, job action at ports in British Columbia resumed — sort of.

Last Thursday, a tentative deal was reached to end the two weeks of strikes that shut down 30 ports in the province, including Canada's largest, the Port of Vancouver.

But Tuesday saw the deal rejected by the union and picket lines go back up.

Then Wednesday, a federal board declared the renewed strikes illegal, leading to their hasty dismantling.

It was announced later Wednesday that job action will resume Saturday. Then, hours later, that seemed to be called off.

The strike's latest turns have led to a number of questions from CBC readers. Here are some answers.

WATCH | What the B.C. port strikes means for Canada: 

What the B.C. port strike means for Canada

1 year ago

Duration 3:45

Workers at ports across B.C. are on strike. We break down why it's happening and what it means for you and for Canada's economy.

What happened this week?

International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) members, about 7,400 strong, did not ratify a tentative deal reached with their bosses at the B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) over the weekend.

The rejection of the deal, reached with federal mediation, sent workers back to the picket lines Tuesday.

Federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan said that same day the strike could not continue.

On Wednesday morning, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ruled the new strike was illegal because the union didn't provide 72 hours' notice. 

A decision tweeted by O'Regan stated the union argued the renewed action was a continuation of the previous strike. The labour tribunal disagreed and ordered dock employees back to work.

The BCMEA said the union served it with a 72-hour strike notice to resume the strike starting Saturday morning.

That led Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to convene a crisis cabinet committee, according to a government source with knowledge of the matter.

But then the union posted a memo to its Facebook page saying the Saturday strike resumption had been called off.

With the 72-hour notice removed, the union can't resume strike action on Saturday unless it files another notice, according to the Canada Labour Code as described in a Canada Industrial Relations Board decision issued against the union this morning.

What was in the tentative agreement? 

The BCMEA, in a Wednesday statement, said the deal would include a compounded 19.2 per cent wage increase over four years for ILWU workers, raising their median income from $136,000 to $162,000, plus benefits and pension.

CBC News has asked the ILWU to confirm these details.

Did rank-and-file workers reject the deal or was it the union leaders?

The union statement stated the deal was voted down by the "ILWU Canada Longshore Caucus." It made no mention of a membership vote.

CBC has asked ILWU for more information on its processes.

What could happen next?

The workers were ordered to return to their duties immediately. A CBC camera crew witnessed some crane movement at the Port of Vancouver Wednesday afternoon.

A number of politicians, including the premiers of Alberta and Saskatachewan and Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, have called for Parliament to reconvene and legislate an end to the strike.

O'Regan has not directly said that's what is coming, but said the tentative deal was "fair and balanced." He's said businesses affected by the port strike cannot face further disruptions and all options are on the table.

Mark Thompson, a professor emeritus of industrial relations at UBC, said the feds' patience is wearing thin.

"The minister has drawn the line in the sand: if you can't do it yourselves, I'll recommend Parliament do something," he told The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn.

What could back-to-work legislation look like?

"We don't know what legislation is going to be. There's no standard format," Thompson said, but added such an approach can be a double-edged sword.

"If the parties know that Parliament is likely to act, they simply don't bargain hard enough, make the difficult decisions on reaching a settlement."

While the Conservatives have urged a legislated end to the strike, the federal NDP, which has a confidence-and-supply agreement to prop up the minority Liberal government until 2025, says Parliament should not get involved beyond encouraging negotiations.

"Don't trigger any back-to-work legislation because that will undermine the workers," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday.

Is there more pressure on the union to settle than the employer?

Thompson says the union is the one calling the strike, which gives them some responsibility for the situation.

But he said the BCMEA's initial offer was "ludicrously low" — yet, despite this, the business community has been united behind the employer.

"They might've suggested ... the BCMEA to address the union's concerns more seriously, and we could have avoided some of this," Thompson said. "But that isn't how it works."