Workers at one of Canada’s busiest ports have fired a “warning shot” in a bid to bring their employer back to the bargaining table.
What happened: After more than a year of unsuccessful contract negotiations, ~350 dock workers at the Port of Montréal — Canada’s second largest port — launched a three-day strike yesterday.
- According to the union representing the workers, wage bumps are the major sticking point between the port workers and the Maritime Employers Association.
- The strike will force the closure of two major port terminals that support 40% of all container traffic on the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Why it matters: The Port of Montréal and St. Lawrence Seaway are crucial to the supply chain of the Great Lakes region — a group of provinces and states that collectively account for nearly a third of Canadian and U.S. economic activity and employment.
- Even with just two of the port’s seven terminals closed, an estimated $91 million in economic activity will now be at risk each day of the strike.
Zoom out: To make the supply chain headache worse, about 45,000 workers at ports across the East Coast of the U.S. are now on strike as well.—LA