Port of Montreal dock workers were voting Sunday on the latest contract offer from their employers ahead of a 9 p.m. lockout deadline.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Dock workers at the Port of Montreal are voting on Sunday on the latest contract offer from the employers’ group as a 9 p.m. lockout deadline looms.
About 1,200 members of Canadian Union of Public Employees are eligible to cast ballots on the proposed agreement, which falls short of union demands.
The vote is happening as a lockout at B.C.’s marine ports drags on.
If the Montreal deal is rejected, the Maritime Employers Association says it will lock out the workers, halting the daily flow of $400-million in freight.
Lisa Djevahirdjian, a CUPE spokeswoman, said the Montreal vote results will be released at 6 p.m. ET. “There are no talks today,” Ms. Djevahirdjian said by phone.
Anabel Martín Kaigle, a spokeswoman for the employers group, declined to comment.
The employers group says it has offered cumulative 20-per-cent raises over six years, increasing the average annual compensation of the workers to more than $200,000.
However, Ms. Djevahirdjian said the union wants the same deals won by longshore workers in Halifax and Vancouver – a raise of 20 per cent over four years.
Meanwhile, contract negotiations have been halted in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
Port workers and their supporters rally in Vancouver on November 8 as a lockout at B.C. ports drags on.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
In an update posted to its website on Saturday night, the BC Maritime Employers Association says it and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 met separately with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and “there was no progress made.”
As a result, no further contract talks are scheduled.
The employers and union were originally scheduled to meet for three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March of last year.
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon intervened earlier during the strike to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
Mr. MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.”
In a separate letter to politicians, Business Council of Canada president Goldy Hyder warned the disruptions in B.C. and Quebec hurt Canada’s economy and undermine its trade relations as the country prepares to negotiate with the Trump administration.
“Prolonged labour disputes at our ports undermine the government’s efforts to work more effectively with the U.S. and weaken Canada’s credibility as a signatory to” Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, Mr. Hyder wrote.
With files from Canadian Press