Dockworkers in Montreal, which have been without a contract for nearly 10 months, Friday morning filed a notice of a 3-day strike at two container terminals. Significantly upstream on the St. Lawrence River, a strike at the Port of Montreal would normally be a Canadian issue except it will overlap with the likely start of the U.S. East Coast strike further pressuring supply chains.
The local representing approximately 1,150 longshoremen working the Port of Montreal filed its 72-hour notice on Friday morning, September 27, saying that it would stop all work at the two terminals managed by Termont on Monday, September 30 starting at 7:00 am and finish on Thursday, October 3 at 7:00 am. Termont handles freight and cargo between ships, rail, and trucks and has a long-term contract for handling the business of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company at the Port of Montreal. The two terminals account for 41 percent of containers transiting the Port of Montreal.
The strike will close the Viau and Maisonneuve Termont Terminals. The Port of Montreal is emphasizing that work is expected to continue at its other terminals.
Media reports indicate that as early as May some carriers and shippers began to reroute cargo fearing that there could be a strike at some point at the Port of Montreal. Rerouting volumes to Halifax, the other major Canadian East Coast container port could create concerns as it would be one of the few alternative ports along the Atlantic seaboard for carriers attempting to offload cargo if the U.S. strike is prolonged.
The Canadian union held a press event on Friday discussing its grievances while highlighting it has been in negotiations for more than a year. They are demanding a 20 percent pay increase over four years according to media reports along with changes in the work schedule while also citing issues with changes to the hiring list.
It will be the third strike by the local in recent years. They were out for 12 days in 2020 followed by five days in 2021. Union leaders are saying that some of the grievances to be addressed are holdovers from the prior negotiations. The Canadian federal government intervened in the prior strike ordering the longshoremen back to work.
The 2020 work stoppage left a reported 11,500 containers stranded on the docks. Other cargo diverted to Halifax creating congestion in the Atlantic port. The Port of Montreal is asserting that cargo handled by Montreal longshore workers is already down 24 percent since 2022, with officials in Quebec saying a strike could further hurt the port and Canada’s reputation.
Unlike the situation in the U.S., the local of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the employers represented by the Maritime Employers’ Association are continuing talks. They are in mediation and were holding out hope that a settlement could be reached over the weekend to avert the planned job action.
Union members voted this week to reject a contract proposal from MEA. Union leadership issued a recommendation to members to reject the proposal and called for a strike authorization. More than 90 percent of members turned out to vote on Tuesday and Wednesday with a nearly unanimous rejection of the contract proposal and authorizing the strike.