Following a 12-day strike, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 375 (representing longshoremen at the Port of Montreal), have been at a truce since August 21, 2020. The break requires parties to remain at the bargaining table until March 21, 2021.
Recently, new mediators were called in for meetings held February 6-8, 2021—after a brief suspension of talks on January 25th—and both parties received a letter from the Federal Minister of Labor asking for 14 days of blitz negotiations. The longshoremen’s union has not had a contract in place since September 2018.
As part of the truce, the MEA does not comment on the ongoing negotiations, but Deringer will continue to provide updates as they are available. If you have questions regarding your scheduled shipments or would like to discuss alternate routing plans, please contact a Deringer service center.
