Two Port of Montreal terminals shut down as dockworkers begin new strike
CTV
Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal started a new strike Thursday morning, forcing the indefinite shutdown of two container terminals at the country's second biggest port.
Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal started a new strike Thursday morning, forcing the indefinite shutdown of two container terminals at the country's second biggest port.
The Port of Montreal says the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals are closed until further notice, paralyzing 40 per cent of the port's total container-handling capacity. The union representing nearly 1,200 longshore workers began its latest strike at 11 a.m., affecting the two terminals operated by the company Termont. The latest strike involves up to 320 workers.
Thursday's walkout is in addition to an ongoing strike on overtime shifts affecting the entire port, and comes after a three-day strike at the same two container terminals earlier this month. The union also held a 24-hour work stoppage on Sunday.
Officials with the union, which is connected to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, have said they are willing to call off the strike if a deal is reached on a portion of the dispute centred around scheduling.
Union representatives said earlier in the week that Termont is being targeted because it has made widespread use of the scheduling practices the union opposes, on the grounds they impact work-life balance.
The Maritime Employers Association denounced the strike and said it can't grant the demand to change work schedules without formal negotiations taking place.
"The schedules used on the different docks … called into question by the union in recent days are enshrined in the collective agreement in force and cannot be used as a bargaining chip for a strike targeting a single operator, as is the case today," the group wrote Thursday in a news release.
