The Montreal Port Authority is calling on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to intervene to end a weeklong strike that is disrupting operations in the country’s second-largest port.
Two terminals operated by Termont Montreal Inc. that account for about 40% of the port’s container handling capacity have been closed since October 31 after unionized dockworkers walked off the job. It is the third labor action at the port in a month. The port authority said it considers all container handling operations at international terminals to be at a standstill.
“It’s obvious that there are no negotiations, and that the government needs to act by offering both sides a path to reach a genuine industrial peace,” Julie Gascon, Montreal Port’s chief executive officer, said in a statement November 7.The 1,200 dockworkers, represented by the Port of Montreal Longshoremen’s Union, have been without a collective agreement since December 31.
Talks with the Maritime Employers Association, the group representing companies operating the terminals, are at an impasse over wages and work-life balance.Montreal Port handles about C$400 million ($288 million) worth of goods every day, generating C$268 million in economic activity, according to the authority.
The labor dispute comes as western Canadian ports locked out dock workers November 4, disrupting an estimated C$800 million in activity per day, according to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.
Canadian labor minister Steven MacKinnon said he’s “closely monitoring” negotiations at both ports, in a November 7 post on X, though he didn’t indicate any government action.“Both sets of talks are progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved,” he said, adding that the federal government supports these negotiations. “The parties must reach an agreement quickly.”
