Update: Canadian government intervenes in Port of Montreal strike

Canada’s federal government has introduced a bill in the house of commons to end the potential strike at the port.

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The Canadian government has intervened to end a potential strike at the Port of Montreal, the country’s second largest port. A bill titled "An Act to provide for the resumption and continuation of operations at the Port of Montreal,” was introduced April 26 to resume operations if a strike proceeded.

Mediation between The Port of Montreal Longshoremans’ Union (CUPE 375) and the Maritime Employers Association (MTA) has resumed, according to CUPE 375 spokesperson Lisa Djevahirdjian.

CUPE 375 announced last week that it would begin unlimited general strike on April 26 to protest changes to their work schedule. The workers had refused to work weekends and nights after rejecting a March offer from the Maritime Employers Association, Reuters reports.

The union stated that these employees “have been without a collective agreement since December 2018.”

“The Port of Montreal is not the port of a single city or company or industry: it’s every resident in Eastern Canada’s port,” the Port of Montreal said April 12. “But at the turn of the first quarter of 2021, the port is being hit by a climate of uncertainty incompatible with a shipping industry that must choose to divert its vessels to provide a minimum of reliability despite the added delays and costs.”

The strike would have been the second at the Port of Montreal. The dockworkers’ last strike at the port in August 2020 lasted 19 days and had a ripple effect on supply chains across Canada, Reuters reports.