Dockers belonging to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and work at the Port of Montreal will vote on whether to accept a deal hammered out by the union and the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) over a seven-month period.
[s2If is_user_logged_in()]Strikes were called off after 12 days last August as the two sides agreed a truce that would lead to arbitration and a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), following the expiry of the previous CBA in the autumn of 2018.
Both sides have agreed not to speak with the media so the details of the new offer have not been released, longshoremen will see a copy of the deal on 18 March, ahead of Sunday’s vote, the last day of the truce.
Concerns from local business leaders and chambers of commerce have been heightened following the disruption to port operations last year which, leaders said was devastating for regional industry.
As a result a number of industry figures wrote to Filomena Tassi, Federal Minister of Labor, to ask her to intervene in the dispute to ensure further disruptions do not occur. “With the year we have had, manufacturers don’t need another crisis,” one CEO reportedly said.
Some manufacturers have already diverted cargo to other ports, primarily Halifax, in anticipation of renewed industrial action.
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