OOCL Customer Advisory - Port of Montreal situation

The Maritime Employers Association (MEA) at the Port of Montreal is ordering a lock-out on July 19, 2010, for some 850 employees covered by the accreditation certificate held by the Longshoremen’s Union, CUPE, Local 375.

The main issue is job and revenue security, which currently guarantees longshoremen their full salary, whether there is work for them or not. 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 2010 until further notice.

OOCL deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to our customers, and we hope for a swift conclusion to the situation. We will keep you updated on developments and will do our best to minimize disruption.   

Media representatives may directly contact Mr. Gilles Corriveau of Enigma Communications in Canada, telephone:  514-982-0308  x:207, email: g.corriveau@enigma.ca