Canada Minister of Labor Steven MacKinnon on Nov. 12 directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order binding arbitration and the resumption of operations at the ports in Montreal and British Columbia.
According to a Nov. 13 report by The Canadian Press, “unions are now challenging the federal government’s recent decisions to intervene in major labour disputes, saying it’s undermining workers’ rights. The union representing locked-out dock workers in Montreal was the latest Wednesday [Nov. 13] to say it plans to challenge Ottawa’s intervention in court, not long after the union representing locked-out workers in B.C. announced its intention to fight back.
“‘We will fight this order in the courts. We will fight the arbitrated forced contract in the courts,’ said Frank Morena, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship & Dock Foremen Local 514, which represents the workers in B.C., in a press release Tuesday [Nov. 12].”
According to The Canadian Press, the BC Maritime Employers Association on Nov. 13 “said the [Canada Industrial Relations] board has issued an order for operations to resume at the province’s container terminals Thursday [Nov. 14] ‘and to continue operations and duties’ until ‘a final determination’ is made in the dispute.
“The employers association said dispatch functions will restart for the day shift while terminal operations and maintenance may begin by 4:30 p.m. depending on ‘operating realities.’”
The Canada Industrial Relations Board, according to the B.C. employers, “has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 18 to hear from both sides of the dispute ‘on certain questions raised with respect to the ministerial direction’ on ordering an end to the work stoppage,” The Canadian Press reported.
In Montreal, the Maritime Employers Association declared a lockout at 9 p.m. on Nov. 10, bringing port activities to a complete halt at almost all Port of Montreal terminals “after workers rejected what the employers called a final contract offer,” according to The Canadian Press.
“Negotiated agreements are the best way forward, but we must not allow other Canadians to suffer when certain parties do not fulfil their responsibility to reach an agreement,” MacKinnon said in a Nov. 12 statement, according to The Canadian Press. “It is my duty and responsibility to act in the interest of businesses, workers, farmers, families and all Canadians.”
BACKGROUND
When Port of Montreal longshore workers voted against accepting “the last and final offer” presented by employers Nov. 7, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA), as it had said it would, imposed a lockout as of 9:00 PM Nov. 10. On Nov. 11, the first day of the lockout, Montreal Port Authority (MPA) CEO Julie Gascon warned about the severe economic consequences of a prolonged dispute for Montreal, Quebec, and all of Canada. Meanwhile, negotiations for Canada’s West Coast ports in British Columbia also stalled, with no progress in sight.
Most of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 375’s 1,200 members who voted rejected the offer, the union said. “The hostile offer was rejected because the employer refused to negotiate,” said union advisor Michel Murray. “Nothing in the offer reflects the union’s demands. If the MEA had respected the collective bargaining processes, solutions would have been found and a conflict at the port of Montreal would have been avoided.”
“This lockout affects not only the 1,200 longshoremen directly impacted by the work stoppage, but it also impacts more than 10,000 workers in the logistics sector, from trucking and railway (primarily CN and CPKC) employees to maritime agents and pilots,” said Gascon. “Logistics jobs are the first to be affected, which inevitably sets off a domino effect throughout the entire economy in the markets we serve.”
According to Gascon, each day of the conflict drives ships further from Canadian docks and jeopardizes jobs and revenue for businesses. With reports indicating that shipping lines are already diverting their vessels to other East Coast ports, Gascon is concerned about Canada’s supply chain reputation as a reliable destination for goods transportation in North America. She points out that when the supply chain is disrupted, both small and large companies that rely on importing and exporting goods are forced to find alternatives that are often more costly or simply non-existent.
The MEA has reiterated its request to Canada Minister of Labor Steven MacKinnon to intervene to resolve the impasse as quickly as possible. It says that several economic and maritime players across Canada have made the same request in recent weeks to get things moving, and that “they all want this dispute to be resolved so that Quebec and Canadian businesses can no longer be held hostage and rely on predictable and uninterrupted operations at the Port of Montreal.”
MacKinnon has said the talks in Montreal, as well as separate negotiations for West Coast ports in British Columbia, were “progressing at an insufficient pace.”
The MEA’s final offer, tabled Nov. 7, provided for a 3% salary increase per year for four years and a 3.5% increase for the two subsequent years, retroactive to the beginning of 2024. When the contract expires, the total average compensation of a longshore worker at the Port of Montreal would be more than C$200,000 (US$ 144,000) per year.
According to the MEA, its offer also maintained “several unique benefits not available to their colleagues in other Canadian ports, including a very generous pension plan, fully paid by the employer and entirely managed by the union, as well as an income guarantee that allows longshore workers to receive their wages even when they are not working. The proposed increases would also apply to the current pension plan, income guarantee and other actual benefits.”
The MEA says that it remains willing to collaborate on any new initiatives that may be proposed by the Minister of Labour to reach a satisfactory agreement between the parties as quickly as possible. The organization estimates close to C$400 million (US$287 million) in goods pass through the Port of Montreal every day.
The British Columbia port shutdowns are costing the economy an estimated C$800 million (US$576 million) a day. International Longshore and Warehouse Union Ship & Dock Foremen Local 514, which represents more than 700 supervisors, accused the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) of discontinuing federally mediated talks and attempting to impose onerous concessions on union members, adding that BCMEA-member companies should return to the bargaining table to work on a new collective agreement. Both sides met separately with federal negotiators Nov. 9. There was no progress, and no further meetings are scheduled.
Following the decision by MacKinnon, regarding the ongoing labor dispute at the Port of Montreal, the MPA on Nov. 12 announced that it is initiating a plan to resume operations across all terminals.
Depending on the decision by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, cargo handling activities will gradually resume over the coming days in both Montreal and Contrecoeur, in collaboration with port and intermodal partners. It will take several weeks to clear terminal backlogs and restore fluidity in the supply chain, according to a Port of Montreal press release.
“The end of this labor dispute means that we can resume operations and aim to restart supply chains across all our activities as soon as possible. I thank those who are facilitating the resumption of operations for our partners and clients. Restoring services will allow us to resume international trade, benefiting thousands of businesses and consumers who rely on reliable and smooth port activities,” said Gascon.
While the cessation of various pressure tactics initiated by the MEA and CUPE Local 375, the longshore workers’ union, has allowed operations to resume, the MPA says it “strongly hopes that all parties will collaborate to conclude a lasting industrial peace built on new foundations.”
“Returning to work is an essential first step, but to offer local businesses a reliable supply chain, we need to learn lessons and find lasting solutions. A collective reflection and structural decisions are necessary, both for labor relations at the Port of Montreal and on a national level. We must absolutely find mechanisms that provide both an attractive work environment for logistics employees and a business context capable of restoring confidence for Canadian businesses and our international partners,” added the President and CEO of the MPA.
The last collective agreement negotiated between the MEA and CUPE Local 375, the longshore workers’ union was signed in 2013.
Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono, Railway Age Senior Editor Carolina Worrell, and Railway Age Executive Editor Marybeth Luczak contributed to this story.
