Unions representing longshore workers at the country’s major ports are promising to put pressure on the federal government if it won’t commit to staying out of potential labour disputes in the sector.
Labour union leaders representing dock workers in Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax told reporters today they are ready to mobilize against Ottawa if the government gets involved the way it did in last week’s railway lockouts.
Their comments are in reaction to the federal government’s decision to call for binding arbitration and force an end to a work stoppage at the country’s two major railways less than a day after it began.
Union leaders gathered in Montreal today and said they wrote to federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon asking whether he intends to invoke powers under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code for the longshore sector.
At the Port of Montreal, negotiations continue to renew the longshore workers’ collective agreement, which expired in December.
Michel Murray, a union adviser with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, says workers’ next steps will depend on how MacKinnon responds.
Murray says the unions are also planning to ask the New Democratic Party about its plans to stay in a support and confidence agreement with the Liberals that is propping up the party’s minority government.
