Letter from the Editor

By Mark Szakonyi

That negotiations deteriorated in four of six waterfront contract talks can ’ t be easily written off .

That six port worker unions stretching across North America were all negotiating their contracts over roughly the last 18 months was a fluke of timing . That negotiations with waterfront employees deteriorated in four of those contract cycles to the point that cargo flow was slowed or halted entirely at nearly all US ports on the East , Gulf and West coasts at some point can ’ t be easily written off .

Of those six separate union negotiations , two were settled without labor action : the International Longshore and Warehouse Union ’ s ( ILWU ) office clerical unit agreed to a seven-year contract in late 2023 , and Halifax union locals did the same for a contract lasting through 2025 .

Three of the union negotiations collapsed this fall , leading to marine terminals locking out foremen in Western Canada this week amid ongoing strikes at two Montreal marine terminals , which came on the heels of the three-day strike early last month by the International Longshoremen ’ s Association ( ILA ) at ports along the US East and Gulf Coasts .

The extent and tactics of the labor actions deployed by the various unions during contract negotiations have varied . But the severity of labor actions and employer responses in three of the four recent and ongoing contracting cycles have arguably been greater than in respective past cycles .

The one outlier was ILWU dockworkers engaging in quick-hit , rolling work slowdowns in the months leading up to reaching a tentative agreement in August 2023 that were less severe than when negotiations hit a wall in the prior contract cycle .

This year , it took three days before the White House turned up the heat on the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance ( USMX ), which represents major container lines , to reach a tentative deal , ending the Oct . 1-3 strike . It was the first strike along those coasts in nearly 50 years and could occur again if both sides can ’ t come to an agreement on automation and other major issues by Jan . 15 .

Come Donald Trump ’ s second presidential inauguration on Jan . 20 , the election pressure to avoid upsetting labor , which the Biden administration was under , will be gone .

Strikes return to Western Canada

An anticipated change in power in Canada , as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau grasps to hold his seat in a shaky government coalition , may provoke more aggressive responses to port strikes there .

But until then , the industry has learned to expect a weaker response from Ottawa to freight transportation disruptions compared to the prior Conservative government .

During his nine-year tenure , Trudeau has waited more than two weeks to end various port strikes and a political protest in 2020 that shut down western rail networks . Under his watch , Canada in August experienced its first nationwide strike , albeit only 17 hours , involving both Class I railroads since 1987 . Conservative coziness with organized labor has tempered Parliament from ordering unions back to work .

In 2023 , the ILWU launched a 13-day longshore strike at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert . Following a one-day strike on Nov . 4 , marine terminals locked out ILWU foremen . The ILWU Local 514 refuses to support the installation of remotely operated railmounted gantries .

The ILWU Canada contract cycle used to be less fraught . In May 2019 , there was an announcement of a 24-hour lockout by West Coast employers after contract negotiations hit a stalemate over the ILWU ’ s opposition to semi-automation at the rail facility serving the Deltaport terminal . Yet , Prince Rupert operations were unfazed , a sign of the past and calmer coastal labor atmosphere .

Montreal tension boils over

To the east , relations between unionized port workers and Montreal waterfront employers have been rocky for years , with federal arbitration ending strikes in 2020 and 2021 but not bridging the deep divisions on salaries , wage guarantees and paid vacation in which workers aren ’ t on call . The Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees on Oct . 31 launched an indefinite strike against two marine terminals serving Mediterranean Shipping Co ., the carrier deploying the most ocean capacity in Montreal and to Canada .

Adding another dimension to the standoff , the ILA local representing Montreal clerks and checkers are resisting technology at both facilities that converts images to text , a move the union estimates will at least halve the needed labor force . While Montreal port workers and BC foremen ’ s labor actions may be emboldened

Continued on page 6

4 Journal of Commerce | November 18 , 2024 www . joc . com