Two Port of Montreal terminals shut down as dockworkers begin new strike

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)

Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal started a new strike Thursday morning, forcing the indefinite shutdown of two container terminals at the country's second biggest port.

The Port of Montreal says the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals are closed until further notice, paralyzing 40 per cent of the port's total container-handling capacity. The union representing nearly 1,200 longshore workers began its latest strike at 11 a.m., affecting the two terminals operated by the company Termont. The latest strike involves up to 320 workers.

Thursday's walkout is in addition to an ongoing strike on overtime shifts affecting the entire port, and comes after a three-day strike at the same two container terminals earlier this month. The union also held a 24-hour work stoppage on Sunday.

Officials with the union, which is connected to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, have said they are willing to call off the strike if a deal is reached on a portion of the dispute centred around scheduling.

Union representatives said earlier in the week that Termont is being targeted because it has made widespread use of the scheduling practices the union opposes, on the grounds they impact work-life balance.

The Maritime Employers Association denounced the strike and said it can't grant the demand to change work schedules without formal negotiations taking place.

"The schedules used on the different docks … called into question by the union in recent days are enshrined 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," the group wrote Thursday in a news release.

Workers have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2023. Besides issues around scheduling and work-life balance, the union is also asking for a pay raise. It says it will accept the same increases that were granted to the counterparts in Halifax or Vancouver — 20 per cent over four years.

In a statement, Port of Montreal CEO Julie Gascon warned that a prolonged stoppage could have wide-ranging impacts on the economy, and urged the parties to reach a deal. She said ships were already being forced to reroute to other ports.

"This new work stoppage at the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals, at the very hub of our supply chain, can only have a deeply negative impact on thousands of local businesses, as well as on the economy of Quebec and Canada as a whole," she wrote. "This shutdown affects half of our international container terminals and heightens a climate of uncertainty that undermines the reliability and image of our logistics sector, key elements in the confidence that businesses place in the greater Montreal ecosystem."

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce published a letter on its website urging the government of Canada to use "every tool at its disposal" to facilitate a return to the negotiating table, warning an indefinite strike risks accelerating inflation, increasing costs for businesses and consumers, and damaging Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner.

"Canadians expect swift, decisive action from our elected officials to facilitate the resolution of this labour dispute and secure our economic future," read the letter, which was signed by dozens of business groups and boards of trade.

The Maritime Employers Association repeated its call for the federal labour minister to intervene to bring the parties back to the negotiating table. It said it had already made some cuts in response to the labour conflict, and warned that "difficult but necessary decisions may have to be made to cope with the many impacts of this new strike."

Earlier this month federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon proposed a special mediator so the parties can resume negotiations without a lockout or strike for 90 days, but that offer was rejected.

In a statement Thursday, MacKinnon's office said the parties "must find a process leading to a negotiated agreement as quickly as possible."

"Federal mediators and Minister MacKinnon remain available to assist them, and we continue to monitor the situation closely."

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