Toronto, November 11, 2024
The following message was issued by the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) on Monday, November 11, 2024:
Canadian Port Update
East Coast
Lockout Triggered at Port of Montreal
In the absence of an agreement with the CUPE dockers, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) called a lockout at the Port of Montreal on Sunday evening. When submitting its final offer on Thursday, the MEA warned the longshoremen’s union “that in the absence of an agreement on the offer … only essential services and activities not related to longshore will continue at the Port of Montreal as of Sunday, November 10 at 9 pm. “Members of the union rejected the MEA’s offer by 99.7% during a secret vote held at a general meeting on Sunday morning. The MEA said in a press release that it “reiterates its request to the Minister of Labour, Steven MacKinnon, to intervene to resolve the impasse as quickly as possible.”
This action affects all international containerized cargo moving via the Port of Montreal, who confirmed only three terminals would remain operational in the event of a lockout: the Bickerdike terminal, liquid bulk terminals and the grain terminal.
Read more in an article from Le Journal de Montréal (translated from French).
Port of Montreal Negotiations Update
On the evening of November 7, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) submitted a final offer to the Longshoremen’s Union, CUPE Local 375, hoping to end the impasse in negotiations. The offer provides for a cumulative increase of more than 20% over six years. The MEA asked the union for a reply to the offer by 8:00 pm on Sunday. The MEA informed the union that, in the absence of an agreement on the offer, only essential services and activities unrelated to longshoring would continue at the Port of Montreal from 9:00 pm on Sunday. No rail, truck or ship services would be provided until an agreement is reached.
Message from MGT: According to an update from MGT on Friday afternoon, the union advised the MEA that its members will not work any shifts between 15h and 07h, on weekends or on public holidays. The company said that, consequently, trucking and rail services will be closed until Tuesday at 7:00 am.
Read more in an update from the MEA.
West Coast
West Coast Ports Negotiations Update: FMCS Mediation Concludes Without Resolution
The BCMEA and ILWU Local 514 met with the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) on Saturday. The parties met separately with the FMCS and, based on discussions, no progress was made. On that basis, the FMCS concluded the mediation and no further meetings are scheduled. In an effort to bring the negotiations to a close, the BCMEA provided a final offer to ILWU Local 514 on October 30. ILWU Local 514 responded to the final offer with strike notice, followed by industry-wide strike action on Monday, November 4. On November 7, ILWU Local 514 filed a complaint at the CIRB about the BCMEA’s conduct in bargaining. BCMEA denies any wrongdoing.
As a reminder, all main international container terminals, including Centerm, Deltaport, Fraser Surrey and Vanterm, are impacted by this action.
Read more in updates from BCMEA.
For more information, please call David Lychek, Director – Ocean & Air Services at (905) 882-4880, ext. 1207.
