Canadian dockers’ union CUPE 375 has made, what it calls, “a global offer to the employer in the presence of mediators,” in the latest bid to break the impasse between the two sides, with negotiations in the dispute due to start again on 6 April.
[s2If is_user_logged_in()]The union representing 1,125 dockers, rejected an offer made by the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) on 20 March, and presented its own global offer to renew a collective agreement that expired on 31 December, 2018, no further details have been released.
The Canadian shipping publication The Maritiem Mag reports that, Martin Lapierre, president of CUPE 375, said “Negotiations will pursue between the parties next Tuesday, April 6, 2021,” with the prospect of the expired collective agreement at the heart of the latest talks.
Meanwhile, the MEA president Martin Tessier reports that shippers are moving their cargo away from Montreal to other ports, including the Port of Halifax, Baltimore and New York, away from Montreal in anticipation of further disruption, after a seven-month hiatus, which expired on 21 March. According to Tessier there has been a 1.8% decline in Montreal volumes sinc ethe beginning of this year.
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