The union representing Port of Montreal dockworkers is scheduled to hold a strike vote this week just ahead of another round of mediation talks aimed at securing a deal in a nearly year-long standoff between maritime employers and Montreal’s longshoremen.
The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) said Monday that Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) will hold a strike vote on Tuesday and Wednesday. The vote coincides with a mediation session overseen by Canada’s Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service that is scheduled to take place Thursday.
While the vote will hang over Thursday’s talks, the MEA said the CUPE still must provide three days’ notice before walking out. If approved, the authorization for a strike will be valid for 60 days from the vote.
“We remind you that no pressure tactics can be exercised before a 72-hour notice is sent to the Minister of Labor,” the MEA said in a statement.
The vote for a strike comes about a year after Local 375 requested mediation in talks between Port of Montreal employers and dockworkers when negotiations hit an impasse. The collective bargaining agreement covering 1,120 longshore workers at Montreal expired at the end of 2023.
The MEA lost a bid earlier this year to have longshore work declared an “essential service,” which would have barred dockworkers from a strike. Montreal was the scene of labor job actions throughout 2020 that resulted in a nearly 11,000-container backlog that took weeks to clear.
Local 375 is reportedly seeking a 20% wage increase over the four-year term of its contract, along with protecting its wage guarantees.
The specter of a port strike in Eastern Canada comes as unionized longshore foremen are still in a standoff with British Columbia maritime employers over a new collective bargaining agreement. And US East and Gulf coast dockworkers are close to launching their first strike in nearly half a century as talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance remain stalled.
Source:
Angell, M. (2024b, September 23). Montreal dockworkers to take strike vote as contract talks continue. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/montreal-dockworkers-to-take-strike-vote-as-contract-talks-continue-5733220