B.C.’s tugboat industry is hoping an incoming wave of economic activity this year will offset a lengthy slump that left many tugs tied up dockside.
Terry Engler, president of the International Longshore Workers Union, Local 400, said that while the forest industry downturn resulted in many layoffs, things are changing.
“The economic crash hit our industry very hard, in large part because the mills were being shut down or downsized,” said Engler, whose union represents between 350 and 400 tug workers.
“Ship docking was also pretty bad in 2008, but that’s come back.”