Montreal dockworker strike shuts down terminals at one of Canada’s largest ports

Dockworkers kicked off a three-day strike at the Port of Montreal on Monday, shutting down two terminals that handle more than 40 per cent of the container traffic at Canada’s second-largest port.

Some 350 longshore workers walked off the job at the Viau and Maisonneuve Termont terminals at 7 a.m. Monday, part of a limited strike amid contract talks. The strike is expected to last until Thursday morning.

The union local, affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, says the pressure tactic aims to lend weight to demands around regular scheduling and higher wages.

On Sunday, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) said it had tried “all possible means” of avoiding a strike, including in mediation and at an emergency hearing before the Canada Industrial Relations Board that afternoon.

“The MEA had sincerely hoped to find common ground between the parties so that we could maintain operations. We are thus disappointed with this outcome,” association spokeswoman Isabelle Pelletier said in a statement.

The job action comes one day before a possible shutdown at U.S. ports from Maine to Texas if a union representing about 45,000 dockworkers carries through with a threatened strike.

A lengthy closure could raise prices on goods across the continent and potentially cause shortages at big and small retailers alike as the holiday shopping season — along with a tight U.S. presidential election — approaches.

On Monday, some two-dozen workers toted signs and drew horn honks from drivers passing by at a pair of entrances to the 26-kilometre-long port in southeast Montreal.

Backgrounded by grain silos, gantry cranes and stacks of red and yellow containers, the demonstrators took varied stances.

“It’s time to negotiate,” read one sign in French. Another said “no” to contract work, “yes” to full-time work.

Others adopted a more bellicose tone: “MEA, it’s up to you to decide — respect or war.”

Union spokesman Michel Murray told a news conference Friday it would be willing to hold off on a work stoppage if the employer addressed two issues. One concerns unpredictable shifts and the other the reduced use of senior forepersons during operations, he said.

The longshore workers’ contract with the Maritime Employers Association expired on Dec. 31, 2023.

One goal of the partial strike in Montreal is to ratchet up pressure on employers while leaving room for more talks as well as more job action, said Lisa McEwan, co-owner of Hemisphere Freight, a customs brokerage firm.

The headaches caused by a short shutdown should not be underestimated.

“A two-day strike can wreak havoc on the importations into this country,” she said.

However, she warned that a drawn-out strike would be much worse for shippers.”When it gets really bad, ships get stuck out at sea. Nothing gets moved, everything stays. So then it’s a trickling effect.”

Container prices rise as the boxes become less available and ocean carriers proceed to hit importers with delay fees, which can ultimately cost consumers, McEwan said.

The Port of Montreal is critical to the country’s supply chains, Transport Minister Anita Anand said Monday.

“Parties must return to the table and put in the work needed to get a deal done,” said Anand, who stepped into the role on Thursday, in a social media post. Her predecessor, Pablo Rodriguez, resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.

Canada’s maritime supply chain has faced several labour disruptions over the past four years, on top of the backlogs and bottlenecks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A strike by 7,400 B.C. dockworkers dragged on for 13 days in July 2023, shutting down the country’s biggest port and costing the economy billions of dollars.

Last October, an eight-day strike by employees on the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway halted shipments of grain, iron ore and gasoline along the trade corridor.

And in Montreal, longshore workers went on strike for five days in April 2021 and in August 2020 in a 12-day job action that left 11,500 containers languishing on the waterfront.