The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) is advising the Port of Montréal Longshoremen’s Union (Local 375) that the complete cessation of overtime has a significant impact on deployed crews and the tasks required for operations. As a result, the MEA has decided that employees assigned to shifts with incomplete crews will not be paid. This announcement follows the union’s decision to refuse to work overtime starting at 7 a.m. Thursday for an indefinite period.

During this partial strike of indefinite duration, all Port of Montreal terminals will remain open, but Port of Montreal longshoremen will not be working overtime as part of their duties. This could result in processing delays and a backlog of containers waiting to be handled.

A mediation session between the parties was held after the longshoremen resumed their activities following a three-day strike. About 350 longshore workers at the Viau and Maisonneuve Termont terminals went on strike at 7 a.m. EST on September 30, after the local union and the Maritime Employer’s Association (MEA) failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

The 72-hour walkout occurred after the union took a strike vote on September 24, after rejecting the latest offer from the MEA. The union then issued a strike notice for the two terminals with conditions that it would consider halting the strike if employers met certain conditions. However, on September 29, the MEA stated negotiations had failed. Canada’s transport minister, Anita Anand, is urging the parties to continue negotiations, stating that the Port of Montreal is critical to supply chains.

The Port of Montreal’s longshoremen’s union has been without a contract since its previous agreement expired in December 2023.