News
- Update Port of Montreal Situation
- 7/21/2010
Update Port of Montreal Situation
After talks between the union (CUPE) and employer (MEA) ended Sunday with no resolution, on Monday morning (July 19) the Maritime Employers Association locked out all longshore workers at the Port of Montreal. Basically all operations have come to a stop with the exception of grain
CN and CP have both advised that they are no longer accepting any containers bound for the Port of Montreal until further notice. There is currently no train service available into or out of the Port of Montreal.
The Port of Montreal issued an update on Tuesday (20th) as follows:
- The Montreal Port Authority has obtained an injunction. This injunction basically seeks to allow work to continue on infrastructure projects unrelated to the employees of the Maritime Employers Association.
- The Maritime Employers Association is maintaining its lockout.
- There are no incidents to report.
- The road entrances to the Port are being picketed by members of the Longshoremen’s Union
- Freight car movement to and from the Port has been suspended.
- Rail traffic inside the Port has been suspended.
- There is no vessel requiring the work of longshoremen for its operation in the Port
- The grain terminal can receive and ship bulk cargo.
- Cargo in the terminals is not being handled.
Agents for the lines and carriers themselves have not been commenting on the situation but Port officials said redirections to New York and Norfolk are expected. (One of the problems with diverting vessels to the U.S. is of course lack of AMS clearance. Additional costs will also be incurred for any diversions to other ports.)
Vessels are at anchor in the St. Lawrence River, awaiting developments.
Halifax Port Authority spokeswoman Michele Peveril said in an interview Monday that "There is a potential that cargo may need to move through Halifax and the port can handle the extra ships”. (But with the current difficulties in securing bookings outbound from Halifax and the shortage of railcars to Halifax, that begs the question as to how CN, the only rail line servicing Halifax, could accommodate this surge in container traffic.)
CIFFA has written to the Honourable Ms. Lisa Raitt, Federal Labour Minister, urging the government of Canada to take action to get the Port of Montreal working. In the meantime, Ms. Raitt has urged the MEA and the union to resume talks and, in a statement, said the federal government is monitoring the situation closely. There is currently no indication of when the two sides might resume talks although it is understood that meetings are scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week.
If the lockout lasts only a few days it is assumed that vessels will not be diverted to other ports due to all the technical, legal and financial costs involved. In short, the steamship lines have not communicated their decisions yet regarding diversions and one might expect not to hear until after the meetings on Thursday and Friday.
If the lockout last longer, it is assumed that vessels currently waiting at anchor or enroute to Montreal will be diverted to other ports. Each carrier will have its own diversion plan and hopefully will communicate with the community sooner than later. Shippers should be made aware that any of the above diversions would create additional costs for shipments (rail, drayage etc.) and that additional costs, storage or demurrage already caused by the lockout will be for the cargo.