The Port of Montreal, shut down since Monday morning by an employer lockout of longshoremen, will reopen for work at 8 a.m. Saturday following a compromise agreement reached Thursday evening.
The union for the 850-plus longshore workers agreed to stop their no-overtime and work-to-rule stances, and the employers agreed to withdraw their refusal to guarantee job security and pay for 107 of the workers identified in the expired 2005 employer-union labor contract.
The two sides had met in morning and afternoon sessions with a federal mediator. The agreement still must be approved by a general assembly called for Friday morning, but union spokesman Sebastien Goulet told The Journal of Commerce there was no doubt it would be ratified.
In an interview, Gilles Corriveau, a spokesman for the Montreal branch of the Maritime Employers Association, said the two sides agreed “there will be no pressure tactics by either side.”
The agreement, he said, will last until a mid-October target date for the Syndicat des debardeurs, local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the MEA to reach a new labor contract. The previous contract signed in 2005 expired at the end of 2008.
Corriveau said each side had agreed to withdraw “pressure tactics” during contract talks that will resume Monday morning, aided by a federal negotiator. Goulet said details of Thursday’s agreement would be disclosed after union members voted on them, but he agreed there had been “compromise on both sides.”
The standout issue between them is the job security and pay guarantee program for the 107 workers, Corriveau said. He said both parties agree that the program itself is worth keeping to ensure loading and unloading of ships round-the-clock, but the MEA wants to cut the numbers radically.
The program currently costs the employers about C$12 million (US$11.6 million) a year, Corriveau said.
The union countered by offering to cut the current overall 850- to 900-strong longshore work force by 50, through attrition.
The MEA on July 9 stopped adhering to clauses of the old contract that provided job security and guaranteed pay for 107 of the longshore work force, The union responded with its own pressure tactics, banning overtime work and starting a work-to-rule slowdown.
The port was all but shut down, although the grain terminal, owned by the Montreal Port Authority, continued loading operations. Container vessels were diverted, mainly to Halifax, including the Mediterranean Shipping Co. vessels Alyssa and Aniello that had been due to arrive in Montreal between July 19 and 22.
The union for the 850-plus longshore workers agreed to stop their no-overtime and work-to-rule stances, and the employers agreed to withdraw their refusal to guarantee job security and pay for 107 of the workers identified in the expired 2005 employer-union labor contract.
The two sides had met in morning and afternoon sessions with a federal mediator. The agreement still must be approved by a general assembly called for Friday morning, but union spokesman Sebastien Goulet told The Journal of Commerce there was no doubt it would be ratified.
In an interview, Gilles Corriveau, a spokesman for the Montreal branch of the Maritime Employers Association, said the two sides agreed “there will be no pressure tactics by either side.”
The agreement, he said, will last until a mid-October target date for the Syndicat des debardeurs, local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the MEA to reach a new labor contract. The previous contract signed in 2005 expired at the end of 2008.
Corriveau said each side had agreed to withdraw “pressure tactics” during contract talks that will resume Monday morning, aided by a federal negotiator. Goulet said details of Thursday’s agreement would be disclosed after union members voted on them, but he agreed there had been “compromise on both sides.”
The standout issue between them is the job security and pay guarantee program for the 107 workers, Corriveau said. He said both parties agree that the program itself is worth keeping to ensure loading and unloading of ships round-the-clock, but the MEA wants to cut the numbers radically.
The program currently costs the employers about C$12 million (US$11.6 million) a year, Corriveau said.
The union countered by offering to cut the current overall 850- to 900-strong longshore work force by 50, through attrition.
The MEA on July 9 stopped adhering to clauses of the old contract that provided job security and guaranteed pay for 107 of the longshore work force, The union responded with its own pressure tactics, banning overtime work and starting a work-to-rule slowdown.
The port was all but shut down, although the grain terminal, owned by the Montreal Port Authority, continued loading operations. Container vessels were diverted, mainly to Halifax, including the Mediterranean Shipping Co. vessels Alyssa and Aniello that had been due to arrive in Montreal between July 19 and 22.