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Economics

Employers lock out longshore workers in Montreal after contract offer rejected

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Operations at the Port of Montreal were greatly reduced Monday as the employers' association made good on a threat to lock out nearly 1,200 longshore workers if they didn’t accept what it called a final contract offer.

The lockout took effect at 9 p.m. Sunday, and the Maritime Employers Association is asking federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to intervene. MacKinnon’s office issued a statement Monday calling on both sides at the country’s second largest port to get back to the negotiating table.

“The parties must understand the urgency of the situation and do the work necessary to reach an agreement,” his office said. “Canadians are counting on them.”

The union told a news conference on Monday it is ready to return to the table as early as Tuesday. But Michel Murray, a union adviser with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the dock workers, said union overtures have received no response from the employer.

Murray told a news conference simultaneous lockouts in Montreal and Vancouver seem to be designed to force the federal government’s hand. Port workers in British Columbia are locked out amid a labour dispute involving more than 700 longshore supervisors, resulting in a paralysis of container cargo traffic at terminals across Canada’s west coast.

“We hope that the employer side will emerge from its silence of the past three weeks,” Murray said. “But clearly, when we look at what is happening, the lockout in Vancouver, the lockout in Montreal, we feel that it is a co-ordinated, planned attempt to increase the pressure on the federal government so that it intervenes in our file.”

Julie Gascon, chief executive of the Montreal Port Authority, warned of the economic consequences of a prolonged conflict.

“This lockout affects not only the 1,200 longshoremen directly impacted by the work stoppage, but it also impacts over 10,000 workers in the logistics sector, from trucking and railway employees to maritime agents and pilots,” she said in a statement.

“Logistics jobs are the first to be affected, which inevitably sets off a domino effect throughout the entire economy in the markets we serve.”

Gascon told reporters in an early morning news conference effects will trickle down to other parts of the economy.

“Today, the conflict is impacting the supply chain, but tomorrow, the conflict will impact factories as well, after that, it will be retailers,” she said, adding: “The best agreement is an agreement that is (reached) at the negotiating table.”

The Port of Montreal moves nearly $400 million in goods every day. The Port of Montreal said essential services will continue at the port, with liquid bulk terminals and the grain terminal among those remaining open.

The employers association in Montreal said it initiated the lockout after the unionized workers voted to reject a contract offer tabled last week. The Canadian Union of Public Employees says members voted 99.7 per cent to reject the proposal. The workers have been without a collective agreement since Dec. 31, 2023.

The union has said it would accept the same wage increases that were granted to its counterparts in Halifax or Vancouver — 20 per cent over four years. It is also concerned with scheduling and work-life balance.

Pascal Chan, senior director of transportation, infrastructure and construction at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the combined work stoppages affect the flow of $1.2 billion worth of goods every day.

“We need to see leadership from government that puts Canadian workers and businesses first by putting an end to these disputes and getting goods flowing again as quickly as possible,” Chan said in statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.