A labor standoff that has halted trade at British Columbia’s ports could put a damper on holiday shopping plans if a solution cannot be found quickly.

Thousands of containers full of goods destined for stores across the country now sit on docks or on cargo ships that are diverted to other ports.

“For people whose delivery is very close to the sale of the goods, this will be significantly disruptive to those business models,” said Greg Wilson of the Retail Council of Canada.

Black Friday, the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season, is fast approaching, and Wilson says many small, independent retailers rely on revenue from this time of year just to stay afloat.

“It’s their Christmas inventory and it’s late, and they can’t sell it, and on top of that, the escalating costs, which are sometimes thousands of dollars a day, are costs that they have to bear,” Wilson said.

The BC Maritime Employers Association locked out approximately 700 ILWU Local 514 foremen Monday afternoon.

This decision follows a strike notice issued by the union.

On the Vancouver Board of Trade website, a calculator estimates the value of disrupted trade in real time.

This increases by $33 million per minute.

“Every minute that passes costs us all. And it costs either retailers and businesses who are not able to get the goods,” said Bridgette Anderson, president and CEO of VBOT. “Or ultimately the consequence is that the price of goods will increase and we will all end up paying for that.”

The federal government has made mediators available, but so far Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has given no indication that he intends to intervene and end the impasse.

“He has demonstrated a preference for negotiated settlements. I expect he will do the same,” said Hamish Telford, a political scientist at the University of the Fraser Valley. “Particularly with the NDP government here in British Columbia, who would also have a preference for negotiated settlements. for a negotiated settlement.”

With the economic fallout being felt nationally, this strategy may have a short lifespan.