Business groups, Quebec urge feds to intervene in Port of Montreal dispute
Business groups and the Quebec government teamed up Friday to urge the federal government to intervene after Port of Montreal longshoremen called for an unlimited strike starting Monday morning.
Union executives on Friday morning gave the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) a 72hour notice of an unlimited general strike starting April 26 at 7 a.m. Longshoremen, foremen and maintenance workers represented by Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees will walk off the job, and mooring services will be curtailed.
Both parties were subsequently summoned to a meeting — scheduled for 9 a.m. on Monday — by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The union and the MEA both said they would attend.
A lengthy work stoppage could deal the Quebec economy — which is trying to recover from multiple lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic — a serious blow, business leaders warn. Ninety per cent of all goods consumed in Eastern Canada typically pass through the Port of Montreal, according to the MEA.
“The port is a strategic public service for the revival of our economy. Now is not the time to cripple it with a strike,” said Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec's economy minister, Friday morning on Twitter. “Our companies have already suffered enough from this labour dispute. The federal government must intervene quickly.”
Hours later, six business groups issued a joint open letter demanding “immediate action” from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the continuation of activities at the port. The groups include the Association du Camionnage du Québec, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal and the Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec.
The feds are “examining all options at this time,” said federal Labour Minister Filomena Tassi in an emailed statement. “This new escalation is very concerning. The inability of the parties to reach an agreement has already caused significant economic disruption in Montreal, Quebec and across Canada. Businesses in Quebec and Ontario and our economy as a whole need to see this resolved quickly.”
Quebec Transport Minister François Bonnardel echoed Fitzgibbon's call for a swift intervention by the federal government, saying he's “very concerned” about the possible walkout and its impact on the supply chain. “The Quebec economy cannot allow this labour dispute to continue.”
Michel Leblanc, head of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, called the union's move “totally irresponsible and unacceptable. The union is taking the economy hostage.”
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante also weighed in on Twitter, pointing out the damage being done to companies and calling for a quick resolution.
Monday's strike would be the port's second in nine months. An 11-day work stoppage last August ended after both parties agreed to a seven-month truce in a bid to reach a new labour deal. Longshoremen have been without a contract since December 2018.
Backlogs and delays caused by the dockworkers' strike last year cost wholesalers $600 million in sales over a two-month period, port officials have said, citing Statistics Canada data. An August 2020 survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found that 40 per cent of Quebec's small and mid-sized businesses suffered negative impacts due to the situation.
The union's strike call follows a decision by the MEA on Thursday to change work schedules as of Monday.
Union officials say they are ready to drop their threat if the employer scraps two recent decisions — the change in schedules and an end to job security for workers — to reinstate the conditions included in the previous labour deal, spokesperson Michel Murray said Friday. As part of the union's current pressure tactics, longshoremen are already refusing to work overtime or on weekends.
“If the Maritime Employers Association does not want a strike, it just has to lift its pressure tactics and the union will do the same,” Murray told reporters. “The ball is in the employer's camp. We want a return to the bargaining table.”
He called the employers' strategy “a frontal attack.”
The MEA countered by saying it simply used the provisions of the collective agreement, “which allow it to switch to regular schedules in order to compensate the harmful effects of the current strike.”
It called the union's decision “very disappointing while the fluidity of the logistic chain remains crucial to the economic recovery. The MEA is currently evaluating all of its options. We are eager for a speedy settlement.”