US longshore union publicly backs work stoppage
The head of the Port of Montreal on Thursday called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene in a strike that has crippled container imports at Canada’s second-busiest import hub.
“I believe that the best agreements are negotiated at the table. But let’s face it: There are no negotiations, and … the government must act by offering both sides a path to true industrial peace,” said Julie Gascon, president and chief executive of the Montreal Port Authority, in remarks at a business luncheon that were posted on the port website.
Union longshore employees represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 375 on Oct. 31 walked off the job at Termont Terminals in a long-simmering dispute over pay, scheduling and other issues.
The work stoppage at two of the port’s four box terminals affects 40% of Montreal’s container handling. It comes at the same time as a lockout of union employees that has halted traffic at the Port of Vancouver, the country’s top import gateway.
CUPE earlier rejected a proposal by terminal operators and ocean lines represented by the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) for negotiations with a federal mediator. The employers association asked Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon to intervene to end the strike and help restart bargaining.
In August, the Canada Industrial Relations Board on a request from MacKinnon ordered an end to the rail lockout that briefly stopped trains on CN and CPKC.
The U.S.-based International Longshoremen’s Association this week backed the Montreal union after an ILA local claimed employers want to introduce new technology such as optical character recognition (OCR) which will eliminate as many as half of all checkers, personnel who record container inventories on the docks.
“Your 85,000-member ILA stands in full solidarity and support with our sister and brother members of ILA Local 1657 in the Port of Montreal as you fight job-eliminating automation, artificial intelligence, OCR and jurisdictional infringement,” said ILA President Harold Daggett, in a statement. He added that vessel operators want to “cast aside” union workers in favor of automation technology.
The support for the Montreal work stoppage comes just weeks after an ILA strike shut down container handling for three days at U.S. East and Gulf coast ports.
The Montreal strike is an escalation of union job actions over the past several months, which included a refusal to work overtime. The MEA on Tuesday responded by suspending salary guarantees owed the union.
The longshore contract expired Dec. 31, 2023.