News / Ban on overtime at port of Montreal a threat to supply chains, says MPA

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Canada’s port of Montreal (MPA) is “concerned” about the supply chain impacts of the port workers’ overtime strikes that began yesterday morning.  

The ban on overtime started at 7am, after notice filed by the Longshoremen’s Union Local 375, and is set to last “indefinitely”.  

The Montreal Port Authority said it “remains concerned about the impact of pressure tactics on the logistics chain and on the supply of goods and commodities for businesses and the public”. 

It explained that all MPA terminals would remain open, but warned the Montreal longshoremen’s refusal to work overtime “could result in processing delays and a backlog of containers waiting to be handled”.  

And it predicted that, at present, around 10 ships expected at the port could be affected by what it described as the union’s “pressure tactics”. 

Businesses said to be affected include the Cas, Maisonneuve, Racine, Viau, Logistec terminals, and Contrecœur (dry bulk), CanEst and Lantic. 

According to estimates, the ban on overtime may slow down or disrupt the handling of about 50% of the imports and exports passing through the port of Montreal. Shipments include food, medical and pharmaceutical products, raw materials for industry, consumer goods for retail and “a variety of other goods crucial to the operations of thousands of businesses”, said MPA.  

“The climate of uncertainty associated with the current negotiations and pressure tactics is jeopardising the reliability of supply chains and the competitiveness of the St Lawrence maritime corridor,” it added. 

Indeed, the Canadian Maritime Employers Association (MEA) claimed the “systematic refusal of overtime will have significant repercussions on the port’s activities – even to the point of stopping operations – and, by extension, on businesses, industries and the public”.   

Negotiations between port workers and the MEA to renew the longshoremen’s collective agreement in Canada have been occurring for over a year, involving disputes over pay and working conditions.    

The MEA said employees assigned to shifts with incomplete crews due to overtime strikes will not be paid, signalling an escalation to the labour dispute.