The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) provide the following information to FMA.

The Port of Montreal suffered a substantial 11%-volume drop in March, caused by the uncertainty and anxiety triggered by the labour relations situation.

The employer exercised its right and gave a 72-hour notice to the union executive of the longshoremen before removing the income guarantee and stops paying the hours that are not worked, in order to mitigate the adverse effects of this volume drop.

The MEA will continue its efforts to conclude a negotiated collective agreement as soon as possible.

This is not the 72 hour notice for a lockout as per section 87.2(2) of the Canada Labour Code.

FMA understands that this action will mean that longshore workers will only be paid for time actually worked, which could be less than the income guarantee. FMA is making further inquiries with the MEA to determine the authority for taking this action.

At this point it is not clear what action, if any, the union may take in retaliation.

We will keep the FMA membership informed as new information becomes available.

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FMA continues to recommend that member companies reach out to the Labour Minister, other Cabinet Ministers, and to MPs in ridings where their facilities are located.

Please feel free to use any wording from the FMA letter that can be found by clicking on the red bar bellow.

Here are the email addresses of the Labour Minister and other suggested Cabinet Ministers.

  • Hon. Filomena Tassi, Minister of Labour: filomena.tassi@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
  • Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister: pm@pm.gc.ca;
  • Oliver Duchesne, PM staff member: olivier.duchesneau@pmo-cpm.gc.ca;
  • Hon. Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Natural Resources: NRCan.Minister-Ministre.RNCan@Canada.ca;
  • Hon. Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport: mintc@tc.gc.ca;
  • Hon. Francois-Phillipe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry: francois-philippe.champagne@parl.gc.ca;
  • Hon. Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs: marc.garneau@parl.gc.ca

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