Port of Montreal: Lockout starts

When Port of Montreal longshore workers voted against accepting “the last and final offer” presented by employers this past Thursday, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA), as it had said it would, imposed a lockout as of 9.00 p.m. Sunday. And this morning, on the first day of the lockout, the CEO of the Montreal Port Authority (MPA), Julie Gascon, warned about the severe economic consequences of a prolonged dispute for Montreal, Quebec, and all of Canada.

“This lockout affects not only the 1,200 longshoremen directly impacted by the work stoppage, but it also impacts over 10,000 workers in the logistics sector, from trucking and railway employees to maritime agents and pilots.” said Gascon. “Logistics jobs are the first to be affected, which inevitably sets off a domino effect throughout the entire economy in the markets we serve.”

According to Gascon, each day of the conflict drives ships further from Canadian docks and jeopardizes jobs and revenue for businesses. With reports indicating that shipping lines are already diverting their vessels to other East Coast ports, Gascon is concerned about Canada’s supply chain reputation as a reliable destination for goods transportation in North America. She points out that when the supply chain is disrupted, both small and large companies that rely on importing and exporting goods are forced to find alternatives that are often more costly or simply non-existent.

The MEA has reiterated its request to Canada’s Minister of Labour, Steven MacKinnon, to intervene to resolve the impasse as quickly as possible. It says that a number of economic and maritime players across Canada have made the same request in recent weeks to get things moving and that, “they all want this dispute to be resolved so that Quebec and Canadian businesses can no longer be held hostage and rely on predictable and uninterrupted operations at the Port of Montreal.”

MEA’s final offer, tabled on Thursday, provided for a 3% salary increase per year for four years and a 3.5% increase for the two subsequent years, retroactive to the beginning of 2024. When the contract expires, the total average compensation of a longshore worker at the Port of Montreal would be more than CAD 200,000 per year. According to the MEA, its offer also maintained “several unique benefits not available to their colleagues in other Canadian ports, including a very generous pension plan, fully paid by the employer and entirely managed by the union, as well as an income guarantee that allows longshore workers to receive their wages even when they are not working. The proposed increases would also apply to the current pension plan, income guarantee and other actual benefits.”

The MEA says that it remains willing to collaborate on any new initiatives that may be proposed by the Minister of Labour to reach a satisfactory agreement between the parties as quickly as possible.