Port conflict: Ottawa calls for imposition of binding arbitration

Ottawa is asking the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order the resumption of operations at the ports of Montreal, Quebec and British Columbia and to impose binding arbitration at the negotiating table.

The federal government also requires CCRI that it extend the duration of existing collective agreements until new agreements are concluded.

There is a limit to economic self-destruction that Canadians are willing to acceptdeclared the Minister of Labor, Steven MacKinnon, Tuesday morning during a press briefing.

I therefore invoked the powers conferred on me by the Canada Labor Code to guarantee industrial peace and protect the interests of all Canadiansadded Mr. MacKinnon.

We find ourselves in a total impasse […] the parties are showing an alarming lack of urgency and negotiations are not progressing towards new agreements.

Labor conflicts are currently paralyzing the country’s main ports.

Sunday evening, the Association of Maritime Employers (AEM) declared a lockout for some 1,200 Montreal longshoremen. The workers had just rejected the offer finale which had been presented to them.

Separately, more than 700 unionized workers at British Columbia ports are locked out and contract negotiations in a labor dispute that has paralyzed container shipping at British Columbia ports for more than a week were interrupted.

Unionized workers in British Columbia have been without a contract since last March; the collective agreement for Montreal longshoremen expired on December 31, 2023. Salary and working conditions are at the heart of the dispute.

As for them, the dock workers at the port of Quebec have been locked out for 26 months. The employer uses replacement workers to do the work. In May, the House of Commons unanimously passed anti-scab legislation.

Shortly after MacKinnon’s announcement, the Maritime Employers’ Association (MOA) welcomed the minister’s decision and said it will take the necessary measures to ensure the resumption of activities as quickly as possible at the Port of Montreal. The Société des Arrimeurs de Québec said it was waiting for directives from CCRI for the return to work protocol.

A dark day, denounces CUPE

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE-Québec) denounced in a press release the announcement by the Minister of Labor a directive imposing binding arbitration in disputes at the ports of Montreal, Quebec and Vancouver.

It’s a dark day for workers’ rights. The right to bargain collectively is a constitutional right. This is not a negotiable right.

Mr. Gloutney highlights the speed with which Ottawa asked the CCRI to impose arbitration and send the dock workers at the ports of Montreal back to work: It’s astonishing, because the employer declared a lockout last Sunday evening and immediately requested government intervention, without really negotiating..

The same fate as the railway workers

Similarly, during the labor dispute paralyzing rail transport last summer, Ottawa asked the CCRI to impose the resumption of operations. To do this, Mr. MacKinnon invoked section 107 of the Canada Labor Code.

This section gives the Minister of Labor additional powers to take measures he considered likely to promote good understanding in the world of work and to create conditions favorable to the resolution of disagreements or disputes that arise there.

The CCRI had acquiesced to the minister’s requests, but did not want to rule on their validity, claiming that this exceeded his authority. THE CCRI announced that he was going to the Federal Court.

Immediately, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference challenged the imposition of binding arbitration before the Federal Court. The case is before the courts, but the railway workers are back to work.

In a document explaining his decision, the CCRI said Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon’s direction that the agency end the work stoppages and initiate binding arbitration amounted to an order.

The Minister effectively ordered the Council to end strikes and/or lockoutswrote the president of the CCRIGinette Brazeau in a unanimous decision revealed at the end of October.

Why not a special law?

Parliament could also force a return to work through legislation, with a special law, which would be an exception to the normal mode of negotiating labor relations under the Labor Code.

However, the House of Commons is not supposed to resume its work until next week, and observers expect the Conservatives to continue to paralyze it with obstructionist maneuvers.

Furthermore, the head of NPDJagmeet Singh, denounced the way in which the Trudeau government overstepped union rights by imposing compulsory arbitration.

Significant economic consequences

According to the Montreal Port Authority, nearly $400 million in goods pass through the Port of Montreal daily. They result in economic benefits of $268 million, according to the port.

The mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, highlighted the importance of Montreal’s ports for the province. It’s a relief that activities are resumingshe said during a press briefing, adding thatideally, everything must be settled in a proper manner around a negotiation table.

With information from The Canadian Press