Premiers of Ontario, Quebec call for end to St. Lawrence Seaway strike

The leaders of Ontario and Quebec are calling for a “swift resolution” to a strike on the St. Lawrence Seaway that has left tens of millions of dollars in daily economic activity dead in the water.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier François Legault released a joint statement on Thursday saying the continuation of the now five-day old job action on the marine shipping route is “risking significant harm to our economies.”

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“Nearly $17 billion in goods were transported through this vital trade corridor last year alone. Businesses and people across the country will soon be feeling the broader impacts if this disruption continues,” the two premiers wrote in a statement.

On Oct. 21, 360 Unifor members at Locals 4211, 4212 and 4323 in Ontario and Locals 4319 and 4320 in Quebec walked off the job after negotiations for higher wages with their employer, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC), a not-for-profit established by the Canadian government, fell apart.

Unifor National President Lana Payne said the strike follows a 72-hour strike notice filed on Oct. 18 after a resolution failed to be reached “despite sustained negotiating efforts.”

“This impasse is extremely unfortunate, but our members remain committed to getting a fair agreement,” Payne said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Unifor said that mediation talks between the union and SLSMC are expected to take place in Toronto on Friday, which Ford and Legault said was welcome news.

“However, we need all sides to come to an agreement right away. If that doesn’t happen, the federal government needs to use whatever tools it has available to support a resolution that is fair for workers and brings this strike to an end as quickly as possible,” the premiers said.

The Federal Kivalina is docked in Detroit, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. A strike has shut down all shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway, interrupting exports of grain and other goods from Canada and the United States via the Great Lakes to the rest of a hungry world as well as cargoes needed by American and Canadian industries. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The provincial leaders pointed to the B.C. port strike, which occurred earlier this year and saw a 13-day job action that prevented the movement of cargo worth billions of dollars, as a sign of what could happen if a deal is not reached.

“The economic stakes are too high, with tens of millions of dollars lost every day the seaway continues to be closed,” Ford and Legault said.

According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Seaway, which connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes through a system of 15 locks between Lake Erie and Montreal, supports more than 66,000 Canadian jobs and is responsible for $34 million in economic activity per day.  Cargo transported on the Seaway includes grain, iron ore, petroleum products, stone and coal.

Unifor Quebec Director Daniel Cloutier has said that the jobs involved in keeping operations afloat require intense training, a high level of understanding of health and safety risk and carry enormous responsibility. 

Meanwhile, the SLSMC said union members are pushing for wage increases "inspired" by the negotiations in the auto industry, where Unifor has made recent substantial gains.

In a statement on Thursday, SLSMC said it is hopeful that Friday’s mediation will “help bring a swift resolution.” The company added that its negotiating team is committed to reaching a fair deal to end the strike that has cost the economy hundreds of millions of dollars.

“No one benefits from this strike dragging on,” said SLSMC President and CEO Terence Bowles. “Every passing day comes at a steep price for businesses across the economy and threatens devastating losses for farmers who can’t bring their grain to market and higher prices for consumers at the pumps and supermarket checkout.”

SLSMC argued that the union’s demands present a significant threat to Seaway’s competitiveness.

“Our workers are very well compensated and, in fact, going back more than two decades, salaries have more than kept up to inflation,” Bowles claimed.

 

With files from The Canadian Press