As the retail season heats up, lockouts have stopped the flow of products at Canada’s two biggest ports, Vancouver and Montreal, leaving many firms concerned about their financial future.
The grain terminal and liquid bulk terminals are among the vital services that will remain operational at the Port of Montreal, which handles around $400 million worth of cargo every day.
On Sunday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents dock workers in Montreal, decisively turned down a proposal from the Maritime Employers Association. In line with their colleagues in Vancouver and Halifax, the workers are requesting rises of 20% over a four-year period.
Late Sunday night, 1,200 dockworkers in Montreal were locked out after rejecting their employer’s latest offer. After unsuccessful mediation talks on Saturday, workers at the Port of Vancouver were also locked out last week and are currently not at work.
Logistics executives are concerned about the consequences of a strike, given the 13-day strike by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union of Canada in July 2023. The action is disrupting imports from both the east and west coats of Canada, with major ports—Vancouver and Montreal—going on strike.
The chief executive officer of the Montreal Port Authority, Ms. Gascon, stated that while container traffic in some U.S. ports, such as New York, Norfolk, and Savannah has increased, Montreal’s volumes have decreased by 24% over the last two years, with a particularly steep dip since January.
An additional 10,000 people, including truckers and railroad employees, who directly depend on the Port of Montreal’s operations are impacted by the docks work stoppage. It will take a few days before the effects are felt by every citizen.