04 Dec Supply chain disruption across Canadian ports
As industrial action takes hold, Canada’s top three ports have been impacted with such significant levels of disruption that they are effectively no longer operating.
The start of November has seen the start of an indefinite strike at the Port of Montreal’s Viau and Maisonneuve terminals led by the Port of Montreal Longshoremen’s Union, CUPE Local 375. These two terminals account for 40% of container traffic at the port and over $90 million worth of trade each day.
In response, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) announced that it would suspend the salary guarantee for all non-working longshore workers – excluding those in the bulk sector and essential services, effective as of 5 November.
Over at the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) imposed a lockout against more than 700 foremen. This was a pre-emptive strike on the same day the foremen had scheduled a walkout in response to a year of failed wage negotiations.
The totality of disruption has effectively seen shipping traffic cease at all three of Canada’s largest ports by import volume. Current congestion data shows that the port of Vancouver is already experiencing a spike in vessel backlogs, while other Canadian ports like Prince Rupert and Halifax on the east coast are trending upward as well, with the Termont terminals at the port of Montreal blocked since the end of October.
With both Canadian coasts experiencing concurrent disruption, ongoing vessel diversions have the potential to result in backlogs US West Coast ports such as Seattle, Oakland and even further south at Los Angeles and Long Beach.
As of 14th November, the Canadian Government has moved to end the lockout of workers across the ports of Vancouver and Montreal, with operations currently in the process of resuming, whilst negotiations move to arbitration.
We will keep you up-to-date with further developments on our LinkedIn page.
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