Change low graphic options | Change language | Skip content to navigation
Page context: Home > News online
Lockout in Canadian port causes outrage
22 July 2010
A lockout in a Canadian port has angered dockers’ unionists; they had been in the process of negotiating a contract with their employer.
The ITF-affiliated Syndicat des Debardeurs, which is part of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, saw its members, some 900 of them, locked out of the port of Montreal on 18 July by the Maritime Employers’ Association (MEA).
The move took the workers by surprise; they had been in a meeting with their employer on the afternoon of 19 July and had planned to continue negotiations the following week. The news of the lockout reached them while they were in the midst of a meeting later that evening to call off stepping up pressure on the employer.
"The best way to disrupt the functioning of the port is to lock up and send the workers packing. The solution is for the employer to let the work continue, in the port and at the negotiating table, and in the next few weeks, we’ll have an agreement," said union representative Michel Murray.
The dockers have been without a contract since 31 December 2008.
Last month, the employer changed the working conditions of the 169 port workers with the least seniority, making them ineligible to receive guaranteed revenue based on a clause contained in the expired contract. The clause ensured that workers were paid for a 40-hour working week, with workers agreeing to be on call. Their colleagues responded by refusing to work overtime from 9 July, demonstrating that the 169 port workers were essential; the employer had to take them on to cover the overtime.
Frank Leys, ITF dockers’ section secretary, commented: “A solution to the dispute at the port was within everyone’s reach. Renegotiation of an existing agreement - which is what this is all about - isn’t done by barring the doors on those affected. Negotiation is the only way forward.”
Negotiators for both parties were due to meet with mediators on 22 and 23 July.
Related press:
20 July 2010
ITF: Port lockout ‘a needless overreaction’
The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) today...
Back to current news online stories
Section home:
News online
Other pages for News online:
About News Online | What is RSS | ITF Headlines on your Website
RSS feeds
Download our free RSS news feeds:
English |Español |Français |Deutsch |Svenska
What is RSS?
Main Sections:
Home | About us | Solidarity | Flags of Convenience campaign | Seafarers | Dockers | Civil Aviation | Railways | Road transport | Urban Transport | Fisheries | Tourism | Inland Navigation | Education | Young workers | Women | ETF Home | Congress 2010
Transport International Magazine
accessibility | site help | site map
ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR | +44 20 7403 2733 | mail@itf.org.uk