Strike at the Port of Montreal — Status

The union representing dockworkers at the Port of Montreal announced that it will file a notice with management on Friday that an unlimited strike will begin Monday.

The union, affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said the notice was made necessary after the maritime companies at the port this week announced changes to workplace conditions.

The union is expected to provide details of its decision at a press conference on Friday.

The strike threat is the latest in an escalation of tensions between the port’s unionized workers and the Maritime Employers Association.

Last Monday management sent the union a notice that changes would be made to certain monetary conditions in the collective agreement. The changes would affect night and weekend shift dock and maintenance workers and went into effect on Thursday.

The union has already walked off the job twice for four-day periods. Since last Monday, ships destined for Montreal have been re-routed to ports in Halifax, New York and Saint John, New Brunswick.

Negotiations at the port have been stalled principally over the issue of work schedules.

The contract expired at the end of 2018.

Last week, five local employers groups expressed their concern over the economic impact the labour crisis could have on Montreal, and urged the federal and provincial governments to intervene quickly to reduce the fallout a prolonged conflict would inflict.

Presse Canadienne