Canadian Seaway Workers Ratify New Collective Agreements

By Catherine Wheeler. NCPR St. Lawrence Valley Reporter.

Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway workers ratified their new collective agreements on Thursday, Nov. 2. Workers wages will now annually increase 5% , 4%, and 4%. Those are retroactive from this past April. The agreements also includes a $2,000 signing bonus.

About 360 Canadian Seaway workers went on strike for about a week after failing to reach an agreement with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. Their strike shut down the Seaway.

“I congratulate the members of the St. Lawrence Seaway on their new collective agreements and Unifor is committed to making this the start of a better and more respectful workplace for our members,” Lana Payne, Unifor’s national president said in a statement. “We saw incredible solidarity from members in Ontario and Quebec who stood together to demand a fair contract for all - and that’s the real power of a union.”

Workers have been back at their posts since Oct. 30. The ships have been passing through.

“The collective agreement reflects the important contributions Seaway employees make every day to keep this critical transportation corridor moving and delivering for local, regional and binational economies,” St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation President and CEO Terence Bowles said in a statement. “In particular we thank employees for their hard work and cooperation in recent days to support the safe and efficient reopening of the Seaway to shipping traffic.”

Eighty-five percent of union members in the maintence, operations, and clerical group voted to ratify the contract, while 87% of the supervisory group voted in favor of ratification.

The collective agreements cover Unifor members at Locals 4211, 4212, and 4323 in Ontario and Locals 4319 and 4320 in Quebec.

Reprinted with permission from NCPR.