Port of Montreal Workers Plan Indefinite Strike
Union dockworkers at the Port of Montreal are not done striking.
Still embroiled in an indefinite overtime strike, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) will walk off the job again starting 11 a.m. Thursday.
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Roughly 350 CUPE dockworkers first went on strike for three days from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the port’s Viau and Maisonneuve terminals, just ahead of their U.S. brethren on the East and Gulf Coasts. As many as 1,200 longshoremen have been holding off on the overtime work, conducting another labor stoppage across all container and dry bulk terminals on Sunday. That day, the union members held a general meeting where they approved the looming strike notice.
The next strike will again only impact the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals. But the work stoppage will be unlimited, meaning there is no set time for when it could end. According to the Montreal Port Authority, the terminals will be closed “until further notice” and access will be prohibited. No rail, truck or ship services will be provided at the terminals.
For this work stoppage, the union is pointing the finger the Viau and Maisonneuve terminal operator, Termont.
“Termont is provoking longshore workers and their local by using schedules that have negative impacts on work-life balance,” said CUPE representative Michel Murray in a statement. “If we reach a permanent agreement on this issue, we could avoid a strike set to begin on October 31. Let’s resolve the issues around work schedules, and then I am confident we can resolve the rest.”
Under the current scheduling system at the Termont terminals, port workers are on call every afternoon to find out if, when and where they are working the next day. They can be required to work 19 days out of 21 all year-round.
The terminal operator, which handles all Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) cargo entering the Port of Montreal, urged shippers with cargo at both terminals to schedule pickups by Wednesday evening.
The strike would affect 15 percent of the total volume handled at the Port of Montreal—which is 40 percent of container traffic. The union said this impact could be avoided if the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) signs an agreement regarding hours of work.
“Longshore workers are ready to sit at the bargaining table. We are waiting to be invited and we have solutions in mind, but the other party must also be in solution mode,” said Murray on Monday. In a statement the next day, the MEA said discussions had “failed to bring the union back to the table in a constructive manner.”
CUPE dockworkers have been working without a collective bargaining agreement since Dec. 31, 2023. The main issues within the negotiations include wages, scheduling and work-life balance.
Contract talks have been at an impasse, with the MEA saying that it appealed for the Canadian federal government to appoint a special mediator to break the deadlock as soon as possible. An official request was sent to Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon’s office at on Tuesday.
MacKinnon already proposed a special mediator earlier this month to get the contract negotiations back off the ground, but he revoked the offer after it was initially rejected. A special mediator could help the parties reach and agreement by Dec. 3, the MEA says.
Last week, the association said it had 35 mediation meetings with the union over a 15-month span.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Canada’s largest association of SMBs, called out the union for its “blatant disregard” on the impacts on its 97,000 members and the wider economy.
“The only reason the longshoremen are striking is because they can,” said Jasmin Guenette, vice president of national affairs, CFIB, in a statement. “They have no remorse for the economic harm and uncertainty their actions are causing. Canada’s SMEs are once again the collateral damage of the union’s irresponsible actions…This is especially worrisome as we enter the holiday shopping season and retailers across the country are relying on a functional, stable and predictable supply chain.”
Guenette called on the federal government to make ports an essential service, which would force them to remain operational at all times.
One day of strikes, even in just two terminals, can stymie port operations.
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.
“This pressure tactic will quickly lead to major operational upheavals, jeopardizing the operations of several companies, as well as the financial health of the MEA, which is already coping with declining volumes,” said the MEA.
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