A logistics researcher says it should take only days for cargo flow to return to pre-strike levels at B.C. ports after a 13-day work stoppage ended with a tentative deal.

But Simon Fraser University Prof. Peter V. Hall says the port employers need to work with the union on significant long-term 鈥渟tructural changes鈥� such as training to deal with the onset of automation.

Hall says he hopes the tentative agreement between the B.C. Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada that was announced Thursday includes some sort of commitment towards that goal, since ports including Vancouver will face challenges on that front.

Port workers were back on the job Thursday afternoon, with the BCMEA saying more than 500 were being dispatched at Vancouver鈥檚 inner harbour by 8 a.m. today.

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority鈥檚 operations dashboard this morning shows the Centerm, Vanterm, Deltaport and Fraser Surrey terminals all 鈥渙perating normally,鈥� with truck waiting times for loading and unloading ranging from 20 minutes to one hour and 13 minutes.

The union, which represents 7,400 workers in the job action that began July 1, has not yet commented on the pact.

The agreement, which the BCMEA says lasts four years, is subject to ratification by members of both the union and the maritime employers, and no additional details have been released.

Federal Labour Minister Seamus O鈥橰egan said Thursday that the strike that had snarled trade worth billions was over and thanked both sides.

But he and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a statement that the extent of the disruption showed the importance of the relationship between industry and labour, and that Canada鈥檚 鈥渟upply chains and our economy depend on it.鈥�

The tentative agreement to end the strike came after O鈥橰egan ordered a mediator to issue terms for a settlement, saying the gap in the deadlocked talks was 鈥渘ot sufficient to justify a continued work stoppage.鈥�

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