Negotiations at the Port of Montreal | We are already thinking about alternatives

Plans B to transport goods elsewhere on the coast are already in place in the event of a new strike at the port of Montreal. Meanwhile, the start of negotiations between the longshoremen and the employer on Wednesday gave rise to an employer “cheap shot”, deplores the union.

In order to take the pulse of the industry, The Press collected testimonies from managers in the maritime industry. They asked not to be identified for competitive reasons as well as for fear of reprisals.

“Canada now has a reputation for port disruptions,” explains one of them. A container takes 60 days to arrive in Montreal from Asia. If you place an order and a strike breaks out and the ship hasn’t arrived yet, what do you do? »

Several elements encourage companies to do so in advance. The strikes that occurred in 2020 and 2021 at the Port of Montreal have been mentioned numerous times. In addition, the port of Vancouver – the largest in the country – was also paralyzed by a walkout for 13 days last July. Labor relations are not in good shape.

In the eastern part of the country, the alternative options are primarily the ports located in Halifax, Saint John (New Brunswick), New York, New Jersey and Baltimore – places where there is capacity available to accommodate more containers . A detour is always more costly for a shipper, but between a higher bill and a disruption in service, we generally opt for the first scenario.

“Customers demand punctual service,” says one of the people interviewed by The Press. So yes, we will turn to [solutions de rechange]. I am concerned with the negotiations in Montreal, but I hope that both parties will take inspiration from the arbitration in Vancouver. »

Some months

In the metropolis, the employment contract of some 1,100 stevedores who load and unload goods in port terminals expires at the end of the year. In principle, a walkout cannot occur before the beginning of 2024.

The Association of International Freight Forwarders (ATIC) hopes that the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Maritime Employers’ Association (MAE) will quickly be able to reassure the industry.

“We anticipate that our members will begin to look to other ports approximately six weeks before the end of December if they believe that negotiations are not progressing sufficiently,” said Julia Kuzeljevich, director of regulatory affairs for the Association, in a statement. e-mail.

The last strike at the port of Montreal ended in spring 2021 with the adoption of a special law by Ottawa. On December 9, 2022, arbitrator André G. Lavoie decreed the terms of the longshoremen’s employment contract, passing the ball back to both parties. Issues like hours and job security – at the heart of the impasse – must be resolved at the negotiating table, said Mr. Lavoie.

It is therefore in this context that CUPE and the AEM must negotiate. The economic context also meant that volumes showed a decline of 2.6% at the end of July. The decline was much more marked on the container side, with a decline of 13%.

“Competition is increasingly intense,” explains a maritime manager. New York and New Jersey have invested billions in infrastructure (deepening access to docks and improving the rail network) to improve connectivity with the Midwest. »

In an interview on Wednesday, union representative Michel Murray suggested that containers had already been diverted to Halifax and Saint John “to reduce the volume in Montreal.” When questioned, he admitted that he had no evidence to support his “hypothesis”.

Tension

The union came away disappointed from its first meeting with the AEM, even if the tone was “cordial,” says Mr. Murray. He criticizes the Association for not having filed “its requests with impact [financière] » – which concerns aspects such as the pension plan and overtime. However, CUPE had made the request last June, he argues.

“We found it a bit of a cheap shot [la] go [de l’employeur], said Mr. Murray. If you want to negotiate, you have to have the whole picture. That’s how it started. »

The story was different from the AEM side, which was “satisfied with this first meeting”.

“At this stage of the negotiations, that is to say the first meeting, our list of demands is complete,” she indicated.

The Association says it will no longer comment publicly on the talks.