Tugboat crews on British Columbia’s coast will vote Tuesday on a strike that could slow the movement of goods in and out of Canada.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union local 400 represents the crew members and has accused the employer, Seaspan, of attempting to provoke them by making 46 changes to their contract.

“ILWU local 400 has not been on strike since it was formed in the 1950s, but there is no way our 350 members can allow Seaspan to impose a ridiculous contract on us that it wrote itself,” union president Terry Engler said.

The ILWU insisted the company is applying “U.S.-style labour relations” and warned Seaspan to back off or the tugboat crews could “cripple” the port with a strike.

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