The Port of Montreal is warning shippers about the risk of delays and a growing container backlog due to dockworkers refusing overtime work. The port\u2019s warning comes as Canada\u2019s labor minister suggested a further cooling off period in hopes that a new mediator will help resolve the long standoff between Montreal\u2019s longshore union and maritime employers.<\/p>\n
The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) said the refusal by Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to work overtime \u201ccould result in processing delays and a backlog of containers waiting to be handled\u201d at the port. The port said in a statement Wednesday the delays would hit Montreal\u2019s four main terminals for international container services, along with other related facilities.<\/p>\n
The port said that up to 10 vessels expected to arrive at the port could face delays due to the overtime strike. Liquid bulk, grain handling and short-sea container service remain unaffected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Montreal Port Authority remains concerned about the impact of pressure tactics on the logistics chain and on the supply of goods and commodities for businesses and the public,\u201d the MPA said. \u201cOur teams are actively working to minimize the impact of disruptions and ensure the smooth running of port activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local 375\u2019s overtime strike stems from the latest hurdle in contract negotiations between the union and the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) over work scheduling. Along with the overtime strike, Montreal dockworkers hit two of Montreal\u2019s busiest container terminals with a three-day work stoppage two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
The union\u2019s 1,200 members at Montreal have been without a contract since the end of 2023 despite federal mediators overseeing those talks since December.<\/p>\n
The MEA said Wednesday that in a recent meeting with employers and the union, Canada\u2019s Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon proposed that a \u201cspecial mediator\u201d be appointed, \u201cso the parties can resume negotiations, without any pressure tactic from either party, for a period of 90 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The MEA said it was considering MacKinnon\u2019s proposal, with a response from employers and the union expected by Friday.<\/p>\n
Source:<\/p>\n
Angell, M. (2024b, October 17). Montreal says congestion risk grows as dockworkers refuse overtime<\/i>. Journal of Commerce. https:\/\/www.joc.com\/article\/montreal-says-congestion-risk-grows-as-dockworkers-refuse-overtime-5751118<\/p>\n The Port of Montreal is warning shippers about the risk of delays and a growing container backlog due to dockworkers refusing overtime work. The port\u2019s warning comes as Canada\u2019s labor minister suggested a further cooling off period in hopes that a new mediator will help resolve the long standoff between Montreal\u2019s longshore union and maritime …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[86,84],"class_list":["post-3109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-canadian-ports","tag-maritime"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3110,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3109\/revisions\/3110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ems.cohesionfreight.com.hk:8080\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}