Port of Montreal Dockworkers Call for 24-Hour Strike
Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal are ramping up a work action again, preparing a 24-hour strike Sunday as contract negotiations remain at a standstill.
More than 1,200 dockworkers representing the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) have been on an overtime strike since Oct. 10 that they have threatened will be indefinite is a new deal is not put in place. While the employees work their regular daily schedule, they are not working extra hours.
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That strike followed a three-day work stoppage by 350 workers from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the port’s Viau and Maisonneuve terminals. Those terminals represent 40 percent of the port’s activities.
Despite several months of negotiations, the union and the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) are yet to reach an agreement to cover the workers’ contracts, which expired Dec. 31, 2023.
The new work stoppage is scheduled from Sunday at 7:00 a.m. through Monday at 6:59 a.m., affecting all container and dry bulk terminals. The main four container terminals—Cast, Maisonneuve, Racine and Viau—will be closed, as well as two bulk terminals.
During the closure, no rail, ship or truck services will be provided, meaning it will not be possible to drop off or pick up cargo at the Port of Montreal.
Terminals not affected by the strike include its liquid bulk terminals, grain terminal and automotive terminal.
One day of strike action is likely to slow operations at the port, especially since it now will cover all the container terminals instead of just two.
At the end of the Sept. 30 strike day, the Port of Montreal reported five container vessels on standby, as well as 11,549 delayed containers. Based on past data, the port said slowdown would have resulted in a 10 percent drop in total cargo volumes handled.
The Montreal Port Authority has maintained that is concerned about the impact of “pressure tactics” on the supply chain and Canadian businesses. The authority already warned when the overtime strike started that this could result in processing delays and a backlog of containers waiting to be handled.
Last week, Canada’s labor head had hoped to push back strike activity by 90 days, suggesting the appointment a special mediator. But the move was rejected, and the parties remained unable to reach a new agreement.
The MEA said it had given this proposal “serious consideration.”
The association also shared concerns that the uncertainty has long-term repercussions on the loss of cargo.
“The cargo handled by Montréal longshore workers has decreased by 24 percent since 2022, mainly to the benefit of ports on the U.S. East Coast,” said the MEA in a Thursday statement. “In this situation of continuing uncertainty, reaching an agreement as soon as possible is crucial to start rebuilding the Port of Montreal’s reputation and, incidentally, reestablishing cargo operations. Without lasting industrial peace, clients will continue to go elsewhere and many will not return, preferring more predictable and stable solutions.”
Both parties were “still at square one and at an impasse” after 35 mediation meetings over 15 months, the MEA said. CUPE said it will hold a “special general meeting” this Sunday.
A major trade link for the manufacturing, automotive, agriculture and construction sectors, the Port of Montreal handled roughly 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo in 2023. Approximately 2,000 vessels passed through during the year, along with as many as 2,500 trucks a day and more than 60 trains a week.
Through September 2024, the port has handled 1.1 million TEUs, down 2.2 percent from the year prior in what has been a record year for cargo imports in many U.S. ports.
The first ship anticipated to be impacted by Sunday’s strike action would be the MSC Anya, which is scheduled to reach the port by 6 p.m. ET Friday. That 5,000 TEU container vessel sails on the carrier’s Montreal Express 1 service operated in conjunction with Cosco, OOCL and Hapag-Lloyd. No departure date has been scheduled for the ship.
Two general cargo ships, a bulk carrier and a chemical/oil products tanker are all expected to reach the Port of Montreal on Sunday during the strike.
Meanwhile, on Canada’s West Coast, the country’s labor relations board has ruled for the third time that 730 port foremen at the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 have bargained in bad faith in its negotiations with the B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA).
The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) highlighted that Local 514 delayed negotiations with port operator DP World about the potential impact of new remote-operated cranes on staffing, despite knowing about the automation project in August 2023.
The decision follows the CIRB’s blockage of a July strike notice after the union only wanted to bargain with one employer, DP World, rather than take an industrywide vote.
In September, the ILWU local authorized strike action again, but never issued a strike notice.
Both parties are scheduled to meet with the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on Oct. 29.
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