Recently, the situation at the Port of Montreal in Canada has once again escalated in tension. Following a 24-hour strike on October 27, the port's unionized longshoremen have decided to further expand the scope of their action by announcing an indefinite strike at two major terminals.
According to reliable sources, the union representing nearly 1,200 littoral workers at the Port of Montreal has officially issued a notice that they will launch a partial and full indefinite strike at the Termont-operated Viau and Maisonneuve container terminals on Thursday, October 31, starting at 11:00 a.m. local time, with an end date to be announced at a later date. This decision undoubtedly poses a major challenge to the operations of the Port of Montreal.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) specified the reasons for the strike in a statement. The union emphasized that the strike could have been avoided if the Maritime Employers' Association (MEA) had been able to reach an agreement with the union on key issues such as working hours. However, since December 31, 2023, the two parties have not been able to reach a new collective agreement and negotiations have reached an impasse.
It has been reported that the new strike action is expected to severely impact the Port of Montreal's throughput, which is expected to reach 15% of the port's total throughput, with container traffic being affected by as much as 40%. This figure will undoubtedly put enormous pressure on exporters who depend on the port.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) also issued a statement on Sunday expressing its deep concern for small and medium-sized businesses in the face of this unexpected situation. These businesses were already facing a number of challenges before the holidays, and now that they have been hit by the union strike, the pressure to operate has increased. The organization called on the Federal Government to intervene as soon as possible to ensure normal operations at the ports.
The strike comes against the backdrop of the longstanding failure of dockworkers to reach an agreement with their employers on core issues such as wages, scheduling and work-life balance. Earlier this month, the federal labor minister had proposed the appointment of a special mediator to facilitate the resumption of negotiations between the two sides, but unfortunately, the proposal did not receive a positive response from either side.
It is worth noting that since October 10, unionized workers at the Port of Montreal have been refusing to work overtime, which has led to a certain amount of disruption to the port's operations already. The announcement of this indefinite strike will undoubtedly further exacerbate the operational pressure on the port.
For forwarders and cargo owners planning to ship to Canada in the near future, they need to pay close attention to the latest developments at the Port of Montreal in order to make timely adjustments to their transportation plans and avoid possible delays due to strike activity. This incident reminds us once again that the vulnerability of the global supply chain still exists, and any unforeseen circumstances may have a significant impact on logistics and transportation.
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