Port of Montreal will take several days to resume full operations

Port workers at May Day rally As back-to-work legislation goes into effect, thousands of Port of Montreal workers took part in a May Day protest.

MONTREAL — The Port of Montreal says resuming full operations will take several days -- and clients waiting to import or export goods should expect delays.

This after the Senate passed legislation Friday forcing striking workers back on the job.

The port authority says the process established by the legislation will lead to establishing a new collective agreement between the parties, with no possibility of work stoppages.

About 275-million-dollars worth of goods moves through the Port of Montreal each day.

Michel Murray of the CUPE local that represents the dockworkers calls the back-to-work legislation an attack on the workers' constitutional right to strike.

He told reporters at a May Day protest in Montreal yesterday the union would take legal action and file complaints with the International Labour Organization.

A union spokeswoman confirmed that its members would be back on the job as of Sunday.

The one-thousand, 150 workers at the port have been without a contract since December 2018.

-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2021.