Port of Montreal union negotiations halted as no-strike truce deadlines loom

Containers are unloaded at the Port of Montreal in Montreal on July 20, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Montreal — The Port of Montreal longshoremen's union say collective agreement negotiations are suspended, according to a Tuesday note to its members.

Martin Lapierre, president of the union executive committee, said in the note that he was informed about the suspension, and that negotiations are not over.

The union representatives met with three mediators on Feb. 6 and 7. Mediation was expected to last 14 days, seven days a week.

Meanwhile, a strike vote, which began last Monday, will continue to Thursday in a follow-up to the previous strike mandate which expired this week.

Even though members and maritime employers have had a no-strike truce since last summer, the union says they’re holding 60-day strike votes as a preventive measure in case working conditions aren’t respected.

On August 10, the 1,125 workers in the Port of Montreal went on a strike that lasted 12 days.

Montreal port workers prepare to strike in mid August, 2020

At a joint press conference on August 23, the Maritime Employers Association and the longshoremen's union, affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, announced the strike was over.

That day, the union and the employer’s association announced a seven-month truce, with the goal of reaching a new collective agreement before March 20.

Under the truce, if the parties have not succeeded in renewing the entire collective agreement in seven months, they will regain their right to strike.

-- This report by the Canadian Press was first published on Feb. 17, 2021.