Longshore workers at the Port of Montreal will indeed go on a 72-hour partial strike, starting Monday morning. Their union and the Association of Maritime Employers (AEM) have been unable to agree on the terms of a collective agreement.
“Whether through mediation, supported by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, or before the Canadian Industrial Relations Board in an emergency hearing this afternoon, our efforts have not borne fruit,” said sorry the AEM in a press release issued Sunday evening.
The walkout will affect 320 of the 1,200 longshoremen at the Port of Montreal, those who work at the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals of the Termont company. Operations will therefore be suspended in these terminals, to which approximately 41% of containers transit.
Goods worth nearly $6 billion are expected at the Port of Montreal in the coming weeks, according to the AEM.
The conflict between the two parties concerns the use of a type of schedule that harms the quality of life of longshoremen, and the use of large foremen to carry out certain tasks.
Negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement have dragged on for nine months. This agreement expired at the end of 2023. On Wednesday, the longshoremen refused the employer’s overall offer by 99.63%. At the same time, they voted in favor of pressure tactics that could go as far as a strike.
In the United States, a major strike could begin in several ports on the east coast as early as 1er October, faced with the discontent of the International Longshoremen’s Association.