It is the turn of the premiers of Quebec and Ontario, François Legault and Doug Ford, to worry about the repercussions of the strike on the St. Lawrence Seaway.
This strike was called last Sunday by local sections of the Unifor union, in Quebec and Ontario, which represent 361 workers.
The strike led to the complete closure of the seaway, a strategic commercial route, from Montreal to Niagara, via the locks.
In a joint statement, published Thursday, the two prime ministers maintain that this strike “presents significant risks for our economies”.
“Last year alone, nearly $17 billion in goods passed through this sensitive maritime corridor. If the conflict persists, businesses and people across the country will soon suffer the consequences,” argue the two prime ministers.
“The economic stakes are too high, with each day of closure of the Seaway resulting in losses of tens of millions of dollars. The federal government must act immediately to protect our supply chains and ensure their proper functioning, including the movement of essential goods across the Canada-US border,” they add.
Unifor and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (CGVMSL) are scheduled to meet in mediation on Friday in Toronto.
“We need an agreement without delay,” insist the Quebec and Ontario prime ministers.
Otherwise, they say they would like the federal government to intervene in the labor dispute. “Otherwise the federal government will have to intervene with the levers at its disposal to find a solution that is fair for the workers and that ends the strike as quickly as possible,” write MM. Ford and Legault.
A mediation process starting Friday
The dispute mainly concerns salaries. Local union members voted 99% in favor of the strike.
In a press release sent Thursday at the end of the day, the CGVMSL affirms for its part that it “hopes that the mediation process of the federal government”, which will begin Friday in Toronto, “will help to quickly resolve” this labor conflict .
“No one has any interest in this strike dragging out,” declared CGVMSL President and CEO Terence Bowles. Each passing day comes at a high price for businesses across the economy and threatens devastating losses for farmers who cannot market their grain and higher prices for consumers at the pump and supermarket checkout. »
According to Mr. Bowles, “Our workers are very well paid and, in fact, for over twenty years, wages have more than kept pace with inflation. Even with last year’s high inflation, we are still 9% ahead of the Consumer Price Index. »
Manufacturers and Exporters, for their part, gave their unreserved support to the joint declaration of the Prime Ministers.
“This labor dispute will have serious impacts on our businesses and our economy. The federal government must study all options now in order to limit the impacts and allow an end to the crisis as quickly as possible,” said President and CEO Véronique Proulx.