In the News May 27
Workers Affirm Their Rights
Montreal Longshore Workers Oppose Government Interference in Negotiations
Montreal longshore workers’ strike, April 26, 2021
For more than one year longshore workers at the Port of Montreal have been working under conditions unacceptable to themselves over which they went on a strike that was declared illegal by the federal government on April 30, 2021. Their demands are just and what the federal government is doing is very wrong.
The federal government speaks a lot about the need for secure supply chains but it refuses to make sure the working conditions of those who do the work to keep the supply chains open and functioning are suitable and defend their health and safety and themselves as human beings with families and lives which also require their attention.
About the 2021 Strike
A little over a year ago, on April 26, 2021, the 1,160 Port of Montreal longshore workers went on strike to protect themselves against unilateral changes to their working conditions decreed by their employer, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA). The MEA had notified the union that as of the morning of April 26, it would unilaterally change their hours of work, which the longshore workers found unacceptable.
Two weeks earlier, the MEA had also sent notice to the union that it would cancel the Montreal longshore workers’ job security plan, which has been in place for about 50 years.
To protect themselves against this unilateral move by their employer, the workers and their union went on a partial strike on April 12, refusing to work overtime and on weekends. The job security plan forms the basis of their working conditions and is key for them in demanding changes through negotiations.
Under that plan, longshore workers must be available to work 19 days out of 21. Being available means that they can be assigned to work at any time, even at the last minute. In exchange, they are entitled to a guaranteed pay for 40 hours per week, whether or not they work those hours. As the volume of cargo moving through the Port of Montreal continues to increase, longshore workers are increasingly compelled to work 19 days out of 21, which is unsafe and makes family life extremely difficult.
Instead of taking action against the unilateral changes to their working conditions and hours of work by their employer, the government accused the longshore workers of impairing operations at the Port of Montreal, causing the rerouting of cargo to other ports and interfering with the unloading of COVID-19 material (even though during the strike the workers committed to unloading and loading any vessel that included COVID-related material). On April 27, 2021, the federal government introduced its back-to-work legislation, An Act to provide for the resumption and continuation of operations at the Port of Montreal, which was passed on April 30.
A Militant Call to Defend Workers’ Rights
On May 1, the Port of Montreal’s Longshore Workers’ Union wrote an open letter to the workers of Quebec and Canada to mark the anniversary of the Canadian government’s special legislation that was adopted on April 30, 2021, declaring their strike illegal.
In its open letter, the union calls on the people “to remember this despicable affront to freedom of association decreed by Ottawa this very day last year, through the adoption of the An Act to provide for the resumption and continuation of operations at the Port of Montreal, (the Special Law).
“With this legislation, the Government is outrageously interfering with union activity, unjustifiably curtailing the right to a meaningful collective bargaining process for longshore workers at the Port of Montreal. Had it not been for this law, the longshoremen would already have a work contract adapted to the modern realities of longshore workers and whose new version would reflect the necessary consideration of work-family balance.
“Deprived of their right to job action, the women and men longshore workers of the Port of Montreal see their balance of power unbalanced by this law, which prevents the conclusion of a fair and freely negotiated work contract. In fact, the Special Law imposes binding arbitration that has been dragging on for almost a year now. […] The Port of Montreal workers and their Union condemn this shameless government interference in the negotiation of the renewal of their collective agreement. This interference continues despite the fact that the constitutionality of this law is currently being challenged in court. The Union maintains that the Special Law is invalid and illegal, particularly in light of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canada’s commitments under international law.
[…]
“Shackled by this Special Law, the 1,125 longshore workers at the Port of Montreal have been subjected to thousands of days of disciplinary action per year and 15 dismissals since the Special Law came into effect (23 if casual employees and candidates for longshore workers’ positions are included). With the stroke of a pen, longshore workers and their families have been condemned to social death, anxiety and even depression. We are being made to pay dearly and unfairly for exercising the legal right to strike in 2020 and 2021.
[…]
“Today, May 1st, despite this sad anniversary of the Trudeau government’s Special Law, longshore men and women are still here, standing! And they will be there for decades to come. On their behalf, the Longshore Workers’ Union joins workers from around the world in denouncing government injustice towards workers and in demanding respect and freedom to exercise labour rights for all.”
The union points out that the maritime employers are dragging their feet and are very reluctant to negotiate, knowing that they have the government and the special law on their side, and that they are using the situation to impose a flurry of disciplinary measures against the workers. The crucial demand of the longshore workers for working schedules fit for human beings is discarded by the maritime employers and the government, which is causing havoc in the lives of the workers.
Workers’ Forum strongly denounces the collusion between the Canadian government and maritime employers in criminalizing the longshore workers’ just demands and in imposing conditions that they consider unacceptable and untenable. Longshore workers have played and continue to play a vital role in the supply chain under the conditions of the pandemic as they do at all times and criminalizing them is an anti-worker and anti-social act that must not pass.
Workers’ Forum, posted May 27, 2022.
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