URGENT – PORT STRIKE IN MONTREAL
Port of Montreal – TO be Shut Down by Longshoremen’s
Dear Valued Customers,
This morning at 7:00 am the Union representing the Port of Montreal Longshoremen (CUPE Local 375) gave a 72 hour strike notice to the Maritime Employers Association (MEA), which will result in all container and general cargo movements ceasing as of Monday April 26 at 7:00 am, for an indefinite period of time.
In practical terms, this is only a 6-8 hour notice, as the union members have refused to work overtime and weekends for the past 10 days, therefore the port’s operations will effectively shut down as of Friday night.
Of serious concern is the cargo remaining within the port facilities, and which may become unavailable for the duration of the shutdown, and the both truckers and the rail carriers have been using their best efforts over the course of today, as well as the last few weeks to move import containers out of the port as soon as they become available.
The only exception to this strike notice and port shut down, is services to/from Newfoundland via the Oceanex terminal, which is deemed an essential service.
ITN has joined with the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA) and over thirty other trade associations and hundreds of ITN clients and other affected companies, to urge our federal government officials to take direct and immediate action to avert this labour dispute from impending the flow of cargos, which will have a disastrous impact on our already fragile Canadian economy.
Please join us in keeping the pressure on our elected officials to seek a negotiated solution to this labour problem, which will not hurt the Canadian business at this most critical time.
ITN will continue to keep you updated as further information becomes available.
Sources for this Blast come from ITN Logistics.
