Port of Montreal longshoremen to refuse overtime

View of the Port of Montreal from Sept. 30, 2024. (Christinne Muschi, The Canadian Press))

The longshoremen's union at the Port of Montreal is announcing further pressure tactics: they will refuse to work overtime from 7 a.m. on Thursday for an indefinite period.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, affiliated with the FTQ, represents more than 1,200 longshoremen at the Port of Montreal.

Negotiations to renew the collective agreement have been going on for a year; the current agreement expires on Dec. 31 2023.

A mediation session between the parties was held last Friday in the presence of two federal mediators after the longshoremen resumed their activities.

Some 320 of them had been on partial strike for three days, from Monday to Thursday, at Termont's Viau and Maisonneuve terminals.

Management of working hours and work-life balance were among the main issues in dispute.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 7, 2024