Firing another shot across the bow of maritime employers short of a general strike amidst deadlocked negotiations, the union representing 1,200 longshoremen at the Port of Montreal announced today that the port workers will refuse to work overtime as of 7 a.m. Thursday for an indefinite period.
The new pressure tactic comes on the heels of a partial strike last week which paralyzed traffic for three days at the two container terminals operated by Termont. It was business as usual at all other facilities in Eastern Canada’s biggest container port. A negotiating session was held last Friday in the presence of two federal mediators after the longshoremen resumed their activities.
“We are still in negotiation with the assistance of two mediators,” noted Michel Murray, chief advisor to Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
“We are prepared to negotiate intensely, but since the employer is dragging its heels we are putting a little bit of pressure for it to devote its energies to find a solution,” he said.
Mr. Murray went on to recall that “being a longshoreman was an old profession, but it is time to enter the 21st century and to modernize archaic practices at the port. There are solutions. One must simply be open to hear them and be at the table to negotiate them.”
The current collective agreement expired on December 31, 2023. Key outstanding issues are scheduling of working hours and work-life balance.
(Port of Montreal photo)
