Contract talks involving longshore workers at the Port of Montreal appear stalled after the union’s chief negotiator said maritime employers have yet to make an offer on a new pay package. With a looming deadline before dockworkers could walk off the job, shippers are urging the federal government to act now to avoid yet another strike at Canada’s second-busiest port.
Michel Murray, the national representative for Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents Montreal’s dockworkers, told a panel of Canadian Parliamentarians Thursday that a negotiation period overseen by the government has ended without a new wage proposal from maritime employers.
In late October, Local 375 asked Canada’s Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to intervene as talks began with Montreal’s Maritime Employers Association (MEA) for a new four-year collective bargaining agreement. Murray on Thursday said that process “ended two days ago and … the management side hasn’t [submitted] its wage offer yet.”
The MEA are the direct employers of CUPE members. But Murray took MEA’s ocean carrier and marine terminal members to task for not showing up during the contract talks, saying it demonstrated that port employers are not taking the talks seriously.
“The shipping lines were not seated at the bargaining table,” he said. “We have to make sure the real decision makers are seated at the bargaining table.”
The end of the federal government’s oversight of the contract talks triggered the start of a 21-day “cooling off” period under Canadian law. The union can call a strike after that period, which could occur as soon as Jan. 4 following a 72-hour notification to employers.
Details please refer to JOC news.
Source:
Angell, M. (2023, December 8). Canadian shippers urge ottawa to act as Montreal Port Talks hit impasse. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/canadian-shippers-urge-ottawa-act-montreal-port-talks-hit-impasse_20231208.html