Partial and unlimited Port of Montreal longshoremen's strike begins

Port of Montreal longshore workers begin a three-day strike outside the Maisonneuve Termont terminal in Montreal, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. Dockworkers at the port are set to walk off the job for 24 hours starting Sunday morning in a bid to ramp up pressure on management. (Christinne Musch / The Canadian Press)

The partial and unlimited strike by longshoremen at the Port of Montreal began at 11 a.m. on Thursday, as planned.

This time, a potential 320 of the 1,200 longshoremen are holding an unlimited strike, but only affecting the two terminals operated by the Termont company, namely those in Viau and Maisonneuve.

This company had already been targeted by a partial strike by longshoremen for three days at the beginning of October.

In addition, longshoremen have been refusing to work overtime since Oct. 10.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ, said it was prepared to postpone its announced strike if there was an agreement between the parties by then regarding the use of a certain type of work schedule, but the union's offer did not prevent the strike.

It is also the issue of work schedules that makes Termont the target of the new partial and unlimited strike. The CUPE local says that Termont has generalized the use of this type of schedule, which the dockworkers oppose.

The union says that in 2021, a company representative told an arbitrator that this type of schedule was only used in one per cent of cases.

However, since then, the use of this type of “shift schedule” has become widespread at Termont, the union maintains.

The company says it is within its rights, since it is permitted by the collective agreement.

The Maritime Employers Association rejected the condition set by the union to avoid the strike. “The MEA cannot accede to the Union's request to change work schedules outside of proper negotiations. The schedules used on the various platforms -- by shift and by relay -- called into question by the Union in recent days, are included in the collective agreement in force and cannot be used as a bargaining chip for a strike targeting a single operator, as is the case today,” it said Thursday.

Negotiations to renew the collective agreement have been going on for a year. The previous negotiation, in 2021, ended with a special law forcing a return to work.

In mid-October, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon proposed that the parties use a special mediator, chosen outside the public service, to try to resolve the dispute. This would have required both parties to refrain from any pressure tactics for 90 days. But his offer was unsuccessful.

The dispute mainly concerns schedules, work-life balance and wages. The union says it is ready to accept the wage increases that were granted to dockworkers at the ports of Vancouver and Halifax, namely 20 per cent over four years.

“Having been affected for several months by a drop in volume at the Port of Montreal, the MEA has had to make some cuts within the organization and regularly reviews its situation. Difficult but necessary decisions may have to be made to deal with the multiple impacts of this new strike,” the association warned. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 31, 2024.