Montreal Port dockworkers begin overtime strike

Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal have begun an overtime strike on Thursday morning, the port authority said, as negotiations over a new contract make little progress.

During this partial strike of indefinite duration, all port terminals will remain open but dockworkers will not be working overtime as part of their duties, it said.

The port authority estimates the strike to slow down or disrupt the handling of around 50 per cent of goods, including food, pharmaceutical products and raw materials for industries, transiting through the port, both imports and exports.

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At present, around 10 ships expected at the port could be affected, it said.

The Maritime Employers Association and the Canadian Union of Public Employees did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Negotiations between the two parties, along with federal mediators, resumed last week but they have not reached an agreement yet. Both the employer group and the union had previously noted scheduling of meetings as a key hurdle.

Unionized workers at the Port of Montreal went on a three-day strike late last month, impacting the Viau and Maisonneuve terminals, which account for about 40 per cent of the port’s container traffic.

—Reporting for Reuters by Abhinav Parmar in Bengaluru