Canadian Shipments Snarled As Workers At Two Ports Strike

As Bloomberg reported, a critical trade route in Canada has been shut down after the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) locked out forepersons and other International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 members. The move came after the union issued a strike notice over a labor dispute.

The shutdown is expected to disrupt approximately $576 million a day in trade, according to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. A port strike in British Columbia last year reduced Canada’s gross domestic product by the U.S. equivalent of about $527 million to $708 million, Bloomberg noted.

Meanwhile, the country’s second-largest point of entry, the Port of Montreal, remains partially closed following strikes by workers. On Sunday, Nov. 3 dockworkers at that port that are represented by the Syndicat des débardeurs du port de Montréal went on a 24-hour strike that lasted until early Monday morning.

The port is a major gateway for goods moving along the St. Lawrence Seaway, serving the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as parts of the U.S. Midwest. The port handled about 35.3 million metric tons of cargo in 2023. Nearly 2,000 vessels passing through the port annually and about 2,500 trucks a day and more than 60 trains a week also use the port.

The walkout came on top of an existing, two-week-long overtime strike by the union, which represents about 1,200 workers at the port, and a three-day strike that happened in October. The dockworkers have been operating without a labor contract since Dec. 31, 2023, which is when their last agreement expired. Despite 35 mediation meetings over 15 months, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) and the union remain at an impasse regarding work hours and compensation.

According to the Montreal Gazette, the union has said it is ready to accept the 20-percent-over-four-year salary increases that were granted to longshore workers at the ports of Vancouver and Halifax.

Last month, Canadian Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon suggested the two parties use a special mediator, chosen from outside the public service, to try to resolve the dispute. That move would have required both parties to refrain from any pressure tactics for 90 days, however.

Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots for updates on negotiations.