Canadian shipping stakeholder hopes of a prompt resolution of the dispute at the port of Montreal have been quashed, after Canadian minister of labour Steven MacKinnon’s proposal for “special mediation” was rejected.  

Last Tuesday, Mr MacKinnon made a proposal to the Maritime Employers Assocation (MEA) and Montréal Longshoremen’s union Local 375 to appoint “a special mediator” so the parties could “resume negotiations without any pressure tactics from either side, over a 90-day period”. 

The special mediator contract talks at the port would mean a three-month period, during which strikes and lockouts would have been off the table. 

But Mr MacKinnon wrote on X yesterday: “The parties have been unable to reach an agreement,” indicating that a mediator would therefore not be appointed.  

But he urged: “They must find a path forward towards a negotiated settlement as quickly as possible,” and added that he would “continue to closely monitor the situation”.  

The MEA said it had sent its response to the minister and was “in constant communication with his office to ensure a constructive solution to the deadlock”. 

It added: “The time has come to determine the next steps with the support of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.” 

Meanwhile, the overtime ban at the port that started on 11 October is set to last indefinitely, and forwarders and shippers are hoping for a resolution to the stalemate before strikes potentially resume at US east and Gulf coast ports in the new year. 

Karl-Heinz Legler, GM of Rutherford Global Logistics, previously said: “With the US strike, shippers were looking frantically for solutions… We worked to assist our people in the US to route cargo through Halifax and other alternatives, which creates a lot of extra work.” 

Montreal Port Authority said it “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”. The port is the largest container gateway in Eastern Canada.  

The initial ‘notice to bargain’ on the new labour contract was received on 1 September 2023, when the dispute began. Despite this, container throughput at the port has remained consistent. The port handled 120,526 teu last month, compared with 126,555 teu in September last year, while August 2023 throughput was 126,902 teu and this year was 124,077 teu.  

If the dispute escalates to a full strike, operations would be more severely affected.