An overtime strike at the Port of Montreal will continue, which could have an impact on Canadian promotional products companies.

The Montreal Longshoremen’s Union Local 375, an affiliate of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), represents about 1,200 dockworkers. While all terminals remain open, union members will not be working overtime as part of their regular duties, which may result in processing delays and container backlogs of about 50% of the goods moving through the port.

A cargo ship leaves the Port of Montreal and heads south on the St. Lawrence River.

Last week, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon, who sent the recent Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City rail worker dispute to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board for binding arbitration, offered special mediation, which would have brought the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) and the union back to the table, “without pressure tactics,” for the next 90 days.

But the parties rejected the offer, which means the work stoppage will continue indefinitely.

The strike is in reaction to stalled contract negotiations, particularly in the areas of scheduling and reduced hours for senior forepersons. The MEA, which represents shipping lines and terminals in Quebec and Ontario, warned at the start that even a partial action would have negative effects on cargo handling.

“The MEA believes that the systematic refusal of overtime will have significant repercussions on the port’s activities – even to the point of stopping operations – and, by extension, on businesses, industries and the public,” said the MEA in a statement.

Michel Murray, a CUPE representative, said union members are striking for better work-life balance. “Longshore work is an age-old trade, but the time has come to bring it into the 21^st century and modernize the archaic practices at the port,” he said just before the overtime strike. “Solutions are at hand, but there must be a willingness to hear them and be at the table to negotiate them.”

So far, promotional products companies said they have yet to feel the impact of the stoppage, though they continue to keep tabs on the situation. Samantha Kates, president of Counselor Top 40 supplier Spector & Co. (asi/88660) in Saint-Laurent, QC, said the company’s shipments at Montreal haven’t yet been affected. Justin Lackman, national sales manager at Adnart (asi/31518) in Mont-Royal, said his company’s imports arrive by water in British Columbia and then are transported to Quebec.

“It’s a more cost-effective option for us, and there are more frequent sailings compared to those headed to Montreal,” Lackman said. “So far, we haven’t experienced any additional congestion at the B.C. ports, but depending on the duration of the stoppage, the situation could change.”

Likewise, Alexandre Brault, co-founder and vice president of Tango Communication Marketing (asi/341612) in Saint-Leonard, and Christine Courtemanche, vice president of Linéaire Infographie inc. (asi/253727) in Laval, said most of their suppliers’ products arrive at the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia. Still, it’s been a tumultuous few months, with a rail strike in August and a three-day port strike on the Eastern and Gulf Coasts of the U.S. While those American union members are back on the job, that contract dispute continues.

Ron De Moor, president and co-founder of DML Creation (asi/48031), is currently waiting on four containers that are slowly making their way to his offices in Saint-Jérôme, QC. They’ve been delayed for about a month by the recent rail and port strikes. Three of them have been sitting at the Port of Vancouver for several weeks, while one just recently arrived at the Port of Halifax.

“Now with the work stoppage in Montreal, we’re tense to see how our containers will proceed,” he said. “It’s not been an easy end of summer importing into Canada.”