A Union representing port workers in Vancouver has protested at the latest moves to step up security.

The president of the Canadian International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Ton Dufresne, said the proposal to have background checks on port workers' criminal records was based on an  "urban myth".

"We're all in favour of better security but we just don't see the regulations the way they're written . . . adding to security at all," he said.

The port authorities want checks on a worker's criminal record and on any information gathered for law enforcement purposes.

It was "a slap based on the urban myth" that there was organised crime within the ILWU, Dufresne claimed.

Graham Kee, director of marine operations and security with the Vancouver Port Authority, said the sole target of the new rules was terrorism and national security.

Kee said the terminals already had a high level of security but there was need for new rules to protect ships heading to other ports of call.

He said ships leaving Vancouver for the United States, for instance, could be delayed if the US authorities suspected there had been a security breach.

"The main thing is that each port has to have certain security measures in place to keep the confidence of that vessel as it goes to the next port," he explained.