2023-10-22 18:47:28
Workers at the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation officially went on strike after negotiations failed to reach an agreement satisfactory to both parties.
In a press release sent overnight from Saturday to Sunday, Unifor national president Lana Payne said she was disappointed that the employer had failed to get things moving over the past two days.
There has been no significant progress in the last hours during discussions between the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and the Unifor union, both parties agreed Saturday afternoon, who continued to negotiate in order to avoid the triggering of a strike at the last minute, in vain.
This impasse is extremely regrettable, but our members remain committed to obtaining a fair agreement, Ms. Payne said in a press release.
According to Unifor’s Quebec director, Daniel Cloutier, the union negotiated in good faith until the last minute. However, he argued that there was no question of workers’ rights being compromised.
Mr. Cloutier indicated that the union remained open to discussion and that he hopes that the employer will reconsider its position.
We are currently below 9%, as the employer’s offer on a three-year contract, and in the context of inflation, you will understand that this is totally unacceptable, he declared in an interview. on Radio-Canada.
Union members working at the Seaway voted 99% in favor of a strike mandate and gave their 72-hour notice to the employer earlier this week. The walkout was therefore triggered at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.
For us, it’s really to support our people who are at the negotiating table, who have demands similar to what is on the labor market, declared a union member, met at a picket line.
Also on Sunday, Federal Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez urged both parties to resume discussions in order to reach an agreement and avoid the continued closure of the seaway.
The St. Lawrence Seaway, and the workers who operate and maintain it, are a vital part of our supply chain. It is an important aspect of the transport system which supports our economy, he recalled on X, formerly Twitter.
Salary pitfall
Salary is the main point in dispute.
According to the management side, the union is demanding salary increases modeled on negotiations in the automobile industry. However, she argues that the situation is different at the Seaway, where wages do not lag behind inflation, as is the case with auto manufacturers, in her opinion.
Despite recent increases in inflation, Seaway workers have negotiated wages well above inflation over the past 20 years and today find themselves nearly 10% ahead of inflation, supported the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation in a press release published Saturday.
When this version of the employer was presented to him, Daniel Cloutier wanted to correct the situation.
The requests were submitted to the employer well before the outcome of the auto sector negotiations was known. The process has been underway for a while, he argued.
It’s a futile debate. Should we understand that because there are workers who would have made earnings higher than inflation in the last 10 or 15 years, in some of those years they would have to lose today? today while we are experiencing an inflation crisis?
The talks began on June 19 and 20 with the help of a conciliator. The two sides held additional meetings in September and resumed negotiations on October 17.
Navigation interrupted
These 361 union members work in the maintenance, supervision, engineering service and various navigation operations of the Seaway, which extends from the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, in Montreal, to Niagara, in Ontario, via the locks.
Both parties have already made it known that in the event of a strike, all navigation on this axis would be interrupted. About 4,000 ships pass through the Seaway each year, including cargoes of grain, worth a total of $16.7 billion in goods last year.
According to Nicole Trépanier, director of external relations at Fednav, a company which operates a large fleet of ships transiting the Seaway, this strike will result in losses of around 50 million per day. And it would be too expensive to transship the cargo aboard trucks or even train cars. Not to mention, she says, the significant environmental consequences.
We need predictability, she said. Each day of strike brings consequences which will get worse.
Maintain essential services
The SLSMC is now awaiting a response to its request from the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which seeks a ruling under the Canada Labor Code for the union to provide employees during the strike to ensure that ships participating in the transport grain continues to pass through the system.
An orderly network shutdown took place during the 72-hour notice period, allowing vessels to safely exit the Seaway network, the employer noted. Currently, there are no vessels waiting to exit the network, the Corporation said, but there are more than 100 vessels outside the network that are affected by the situation.
During this time of economic and geopolitical crisis, it is important that the Seaway remains a reliable transportation route for the efficient movement of essential cargo between North America and the rest of the world, said Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the management of the CGVMSL.
For its part, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) also called for the maintenance of services offered by Seaway workers: in a statement sent by press release, the Federation believes that workers under federal regulation who are essential to the supply chain should be recognized as essential workers to avoid similar strikes in the future.
SMEs were severely affected by this summer’s long strike at British Columbia ports and the resulting supply chain disruptions. SMEs and the Canadian economy as a whole do not need another strike that blocks an important trade route and hinders trade, says the CFIB.
In an interview on RDI, François Vincent, vice-president of the Federation, maintained that this strike adds to a series of bad news since the outbreak of the pandemic. It’s challenge after challenge, after challenge. And there, this is another strategic point, in terms of the supply chain, which is disrupted, and which will put enormous pressure on SMEs in important sectors, he declared.
This is not good news for the economy.
Like the CFIB, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is also calling for intervention from Ottawa.
The federal government must act immediately to end this new disruption while continuing to work closely with all parties on a long-term agreement, the organization said in a statement.
With information from The Canadian Press
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