Montreal port workers, who have been without a contract for almost 10 months, announced a three-day strike at two container terminals on last Friday morning.
Well upstream of the St. Lawrence River, a strike at the Port of Montreal would normally be a Canadian issue, except that it overlaps with the likely start of the strike on the U.S. East Coast, putting further pressure on supply chains.
Press conference
The Canadian union held a press conference on Friday where it discussed its grievances while stressing that it has been in negotiations for more than a year.
According to media reports, they are demanding a salary increase of 20 percent over four years as well as changes in the work schedule and also cite problems with changes in the recruitment list.
Local representing
The local representing approximately 1,150 longshoremen working the Port of Montreal filed its 72-hour notice on last Friday morning, September 27,
It saying that it would stop all work at the two terminals managed by Termont on Monday, September 30 starting at 7:00 am and finish on Thursday, October 3 at 7:00 am.
Termont
Termont handles freight and cargo between ships, rail, and trucks and has a long-term contract for handling the business of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company at the Port of Montreal.
The two terminals account for 41 percent of containers transiting the Port of Montreal.
The strike will close the Viau and Maisonneuve Termont Terminals. The Port of Montreal is emphasizing that work is expected to continue at its other terminals.
Third strike
It will be the third strike by the local in recent years. They were out for 12 days in 2020 followed by five days in 2021.
Union leaders are saying that some of the grievances to be addressed are holdovers from the prior negotiations.
The Canadian federal government intervened in the prior strike ordering the longshoremen back to work.
North American supply chains creak as 80% of railways shut down
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Canada’s reputation
The 2020 work stoppage left a reported 11,500 containers stranded on the docks. Other cargo diverted to Halifax creating congestion in the Atlantic port.
The Port of Montreal is asserting that cargo handled by Montreal longshore workers is already down 24 percent since 2022, with officials in Quebec saying a strike could further hurt the port and Canada’s reputation.
Planned job action
Due to the work stoppage in 2020, 11,500 containers were reportedly stranded on the docks. Other cargo was diverted to Halifax, causing congestion at the Atlantic port.
Unlike the situation in the U.S., the local of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the employers represented by the Maritime Employers’ Association are continuing talks. They are in mediation and were holding out hope that a settlement could be reached over the weekend to avert the planned job action.
