Strike suspended in US East Coast ports | What to shake things up in Montreal?

The spotlight is on the Port of Montreal after an agreement that will bring 45,000 striking American longshoremen back to work. It remains to be seen how the preliminary agreement, which provides for significant salary increases, will influence the mediation, which resumes this Friday in the metropolis.

Thirty-six ports on the American East Coast have been at a standstill since Tuesday, but common ground between the American longshoremen’s union – the employees who handle the containers – and the employer plans a resumption of activities this Friday.

Details were still preliminary Thursday evening. Until everything is finalized, union peace is expected at least until January 15. The union wants to continue negotiating with the employer on issues like automation at ports – one of the elements at the heart of the dispute.

In exchange, salary increases of up to 62% over six years would have been offered, according to various American media. The union was aiming for a 77% increase. On average, the base hourly rate of a longshoreman would increase from US$39 to US$63, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“With what has been obtained, this gives arguments to the longshoremen [québécois] to demand parity with their American compatriots,” said professor of the department of business administration at Texas A&M University Jean-Paul Rodrigue.

The Union of Longshoremen of the Port of Montreal, a local section of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, affiliated with the FTQ, as well as the Association of Maritime Employers (AEM), have not commented on the turn of events in the United States , THURSDAY.

The parties talk again

Summoned by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the two parties will meet again on Friday, the day after the resumption of activities at the Port of Montreal. Since Monday morning, the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals, operated by Termont, have been paralyzed by a partial strike.

Some 320 of the 1,200 longshoremen were on strike. Société Terminalaux Montréal Gateway, which operates two international terminals, was spared. It is unknown whether the union is preparing other pressure tactics and whether the AEM is counting on a response.

Will Montreal longshoremen align their wage demands with what was obtained in the United States? Difficult to say at the moment. According to the collective agreement which expired on December 31, the “basic” hourly wage of a longshoreman is $43.04 per hour, or approximately US$31.95 per hour. Annually, the remuneration of a full-time worker is $171,000, which takes into account social benefits, according to the AEM. Not all union members receive this annual salary.

South of the border, more than half of the 3,726 longshoremen at the port of New Jersey earn more than US$150,000 – CAN$202,000 – per year, according to a compilation produced by the Wall Street Journal. Unlike their Montreal colleagues, however, they do not benefit from a retirement plan “fully paid” by their employer and job security – a mechanism which guarantees them a better salary even if they do not work when the volume cargo is insufficient.

Here, issues like hours and job security are at the heart of the impasse. In the initial request books, that The Press had been able to consult, the longshoremen wanted to obtain salary increases of at least 20% over four years. This would increase the base hourly rate to $51.65.

Lost opportunity?

Despite tense labor relations, the Port of Montreal had taken on the appearance of a plan B for transporting containers south of the border due to the labor conflict that was raging.

At Quebec transport and logistics specialists – who often offer bonded warehousing services, where cargo can be stored before arriving at their ultimate destination – the phone started ringing.

“There are many American companies currently evaluating their options,” explained Patrick Turcotte, president of Groupe TYT, before the announcement of an agreement in the United States. There are containers headed to Montreal to transport them to the American East Coast by truck. It’s like a relief valve to remedy the strike in the United States. »

The relaunch of activities in American ports should also reassure food retailers, who have been monitoring the situation. Fruits like bananas as well as oranges – when imported from countries like Morocco, Spain and Portugal – pass through ports on the east coast of the United States.