The Maritime Employers Association orders a lock-out at the Port of Montreal

MONTREAL, July 18 /CNW Telbec/ - Faced with the union's refusal to acknowledge the urgency of the matter as well as the need to radically amend the collective agreement between the Maritime Employers Association and the Port of Montreal's longshoremen, and in order to avoid compromising Port activities, the MEA has chosen to exercise its legal right according to the labour code and is ordering a lock-out as of today for some 850 employees covered by the accreditation certificate held by the Longshoremen's Union, CUPE, Local 375.

The main issue is job and revenu security. Considering existing market conditions, MEA can no longer accept such a large gap between the amount of hours worked and paid for by longshoremen and the amount of hours not worked but fully paid for.

MEA's management team believes that while this is not a desirable outcome, it had no other choice but to order a lock-out, given that pressure tactics have begun to impede Port operations. Consequently, all activities on terminals operated by MEA members will be interrupted as of 8 a.m. Monday July 19, until further notice.

The Port of Montreal's activity and sustainability remain priorities and MEA's management hopes that this situation will prompt union representatives to look more realistically at the challenges ahead for the maritime sector.

About the Maritime Employers Association

The Maritime Employers Association is a non-profit organization representing member companies involved in shipping. Membership in the Association includes ship owners, operators and agents, stevedoring contractors and terminal operators. On behalf of its members, the Association is mandated to negotiate and administrate collective agreements covering over 1450 longshoremen in Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal and Trois-Rivières/Bécancour.

For further information: Gilles Corriveau, Enigma communications, Telephone: [phone], ext. 207, Pager: 514 221-2604, [email protected]