By admin 
The Canadian Maritime Employers Association (MEA) has submitted a so-called ‘final’ contract offer to union port workers, hoping to end their work. partial indefinite strike at the port of Montreal. But now the employers are threatening a lockout if the union does not agree to the new conditions.
The MEA is offering the Local 375 chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) a cumulative pay increase of more than 20 per cent over six years. The employers are asking the union for an answer before 8 p.m. local time on Sunday.
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If no deal is reached by that deadline, “only essential services and activities not related to longshoring” will continue at the port from 9 p.m.
About 320 dock workers at CUPE 375 have been on strike at two of the Port of Montreal’s container terminals since Oct. 31. The union is aiming for a 20 percent salary increase over four years, which would be the same as for their colleagues in the ports. from Vancouver and Halifax.
Wages are not the only problem for dock workers. They also take aim at the terminal’s operator, Termont, saying the company’s work schedules are negatively impacting work-life balance.
The dock workers have been working without a new contract since December 31, 2023.
The strike affects 40 percent of the container volume handled at the Port of Montreal. Due to the drop in volumes, the terminals now only need 45 longshore workers to handle port duties, the Montreal Port Authority said.
According to maritime intelligence company eeSea, four ships are at anchor and one at the berth.
Julie Gascon, CEO and chair of the Montreal Port Authority, called on the Canadian federal government to do so intervene in the stalled labor negotiations Thursday.
The MEA’s offer includes a salary increase of 3 percent per year for four years and a 3.5 percent increase for the following two years, retroactive to early 2024. When the contract expires, the total average compensation of a dock worker will are higher in the port. than $200,000 Canadian dollars ($144,000) per year. The proposed increases will also apply to the current pension scheme and benefits.
Provided that if a deal is struck, employers say they will require dock workers to be absent at least an hour in advance instead of a minute before the start of the shift. This measure is intended to reduce absenteeism management problems, which, according to the MEA, has a major effect on daily business operations.
According to employers, nearly $400 million Canadian dollars ($288 million) worth of goods pass through the Port of Montreal every day, generating $268 million Canadian dollars ($193 million) in economic activity.
The current partial strike in the port coincides with a larger one work stoppage of overtime by the 1,200 CUPE dock workers who are looking for a new contract. The overtime strike, which has taken place at all terminals, has been going on since October 10.
Workers at the port have taken numerous forms of labor action since late September, when the 320 dockworkers at the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals went on strike for the first time for three days, from September 30 to October 2. Another strike took place on October 27. , with the entire series of dock workers at all terminals walking off work.
Another labor stoppage slowing ocean freight movement across Canada continues 700 harbor masters remain locked out of British Columbia ports such as Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
However, the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 514 will meet Saturday at 5 p.m. local time with the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
As of Thursday, the Port of Vancouver has just one ship at berth, while seven remain outside the port’s jurisdiction.
Steven MacKinnon, who has already started his term as Canadian Minister of Labour turn on the breaks The country’s rail lockout in late August said in a post on Thursday that both the Montreal and British Columbia talks are “progressing at an insufficient pace.”
While MacKinnon said he is monitoring both negotiations and is pledging support from the federal government, he noted there was a “concerning lack of urgency among the parties involved.”