Canada Labor Minister Orders End to Labor Disputes at Country's Ports

A large blue container ship docked at a port, below three white shipping cranes, while a grey barge moves through the waterway in the foreground

The Port of Montreal along the St. Lawrence River. Photo: iStock / LaSalle-Photo

Canada labor minister Steven MacKinnon has ordered an end to a strike at the Port of Montreal, as well as lockouts at British Columbia container terminals and the Port of Quebec, saying the disputes have dragged on for too long without any sign of resolution.

"The responsibility for these negotiations belongs to the parties alone, but the impacts are being borne by all Canadians," MacKinnon said in a post on X. "We simply cannot afford this uncertainty and instability at this moment."

In the November 12 statement, MacKinnon said that the ongoing stoppages at the Port of Montreal and in British Columbia have significantly impacted the country's supply chains, and that a years-long labor dispute at the Port of Quebec must cease. Because of that, MacKinnon ordered operations at all ports to fully resume, directed Canada's Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to impose binding arbitration on all parties, and extended the unions' existing collective bargaining agreements until new deals can be reached.

“There is a limit to the economic self destruction that Canadians are prepared to accept,” MacKinnon said. “In the face of economic self destruction there is an obligation to intervene. As minister of labor that responsibility falls to me.”

My statement on the collective bargaining negotiations at the Ports of British Columbia and Quebec: pic.twitter.com/4pb9nXrh99
— Steven MacKinnon (@stevenmackinnon) November 12, 2024

Dockworkers at two terminals at the Port of Montreal — whose labor deal expired at the end of 2023 — went on strike on October 31, accusing employers of jeopardizing their work-life balance with "punitive" work schedules. On November 4, the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) imposed a lockout against foremen at the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, hours before foremen had scheduled a walkout. Union workers at the Port of Quebec have been locked out by employers for more than two years, with non-union replacement workers having been brought in to keep terminals running over that period.