Port of Montreal Dockworkers Launch Partial Strike

Trade Update • APRIL 15, 2021

Last weekend, the union representing dockworkers at the Port of Montreal, issued a 72-hour notice of a partial strike that will impact all terminals at the port.

CUPE 375 says the action is in response to the Maritime Employers Association’s recent unexpected announcement that they would “suspend certain conditions of remuneration as of Tuesday” — what the union describes in a statement as “job security provisions in the collective agreement”— or more exactly, the cessation of payment for hours not worked.

The planned slowdown will involve discontinuing overtime work, docking activities, and training. In addition, starting Saturday, April 17, workers will begin striking on Saturday and Sunday indefinitely.

The port will continue normal operations during regular weekday hours.

“This way, we are putting pressure on the employer without disrupting clients who are awaiting their goods,” according to CUPE national representative Michel Murray.

Importers, however, say the partial strike, “will very quickly cause significant congestion and will have a major impact on the fluidity of the logistics chain.”