The longshoremen’s union acts in a discriminatory way, rules an arbitrator

The Port of Montreal Longshoremen’s Union practices nepotism when it comes to compiling lists of longshoreman candidates. The people proposed have in the vast majority of family ties with members of the union.

Andre Dubuc
The Press

Since 2015, the union has recommended 50% of candidates by providing a list of names. Prior to 2015, the union recommended 100% of the workforce.

“The court is of the opinion that the grievance should be upheld and declared that the practice followed by the union to draw up the lists of candidates is discriminatory and contrary to the CHRA. [Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne]writes arbitrator M^e Nathalie Faucher, responsible for settling a grievance filed by the Association of Maritime Employers (AEM) against the longshoremen’s union. The decision rendered on 1^er last August has gone unnoticed until now.

The CHRA, of public order, prohibits making a distinction between two people on the basis of family status.

In his decision, Mr.^e Faucher recalls that the longshoremen’s practice of offering almost exclusively the hiring of family members has been a reality for at least 60 years, apart from a brief hiatus after 2005.

“Several longshoremen hold these positions from father to son or daughter. It is also not uncommon for several members of the extended family to also be longshoremen employed by the MEA. This was true in the past and it still is,” reads the arbitration award.

At the Port of Montreal, the starting wage for a longshoreman is $36.09 an hour.

Candidates aged 3 years

The arbitration decision says a lot about the process leading to the hiring of longshoremen.

Depending on his rank of seniority, each longshoreman proposes a candidate. It turns out that, according to the evidence filed, “a large proportion of the candidates have the same surname as the stevedore who proposed them”. Some longshoremen offer the name of their child. Candidates are barely 3 years old. No job postings are made in newspapers, recruitment sites, agencies or government job boards. The majority of candidates referred by the union have no relevant work experience, the arbitrator found.

After accepting the MEA’s grievance and declaring the union’s practice discriminatory, arbitrator Faucher granted the parties a period of time to agree on a new law-abiding way of hiring future longshoremen.