[Canada] Pay deal reached to end strike that shut down major shipping artery

On October 29, a deal was reached to end a week-long strike that had shut down a major shipping artery in the Great Lakes, halting the flow of grain and other goods from Canada and the US, KRWG reports.

Around 360 workers in Ontario and Quebec who belong to Unifor - Canada's largest private-sector union - walked out on October 22 in a dispute over wages with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.

Seaway Management announced that ships would start moving again when employees returned to work at 7 a.m. October 30.

"We have in hand an agreement that's fair for workers and secures a strong and stable future for the Seaway," CEO Terence Bowles said in a statement on October 29.

Unifor reportedly said that a vote to ratify the deal will be scheduled in the coming days.

"Details of the tentative agreement will first be shared with members and will be made public once an agreement is ratified," a union statement said.

The strike shut down 13 locks on the seaway between Lake Erie and Montreal. It bottled up ships in the Great Lakes and prevented further ships from coming in.

The St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes are part of a system of locks, canals, rivers and lakes that stretches more than 2,300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the western tip of Lake Superior in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 2022, it carried over $12 billion worth of cargo. Ships that use it include oceangoing "salties" and "lakers" that stick to the lakes.

This was the first time that a strike has shut down the vital shipping artery since 1968.

An estimate from the Chamber of Marine Commerce suggested that the strike, which took place during one of the busiest times of the year for the seaway, caused the loss of up to $100 million per day in economic activity across Canada and the US.

"We are pleased that this interruption in vital Seaway traffic has come to an end, and we can focus once more on meeting the needs of consumers around the world," Bruce Burrows - chamber president - said in a statement.

Source: KRWG

(Quotes via original reporting)

On October 29, a deal was reached to end a week-long strike that had shut down a major shipping artery in the Great Lakes, halting the flow of grain and other goods from Canada and the US, KRWG reports.

Around 360 workers in Ontario and Quebec who belong to Unifor - Canada's largest private-sector union - walked out on October 22 in a dispute over wages with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.

Seaway Management announced that ships would start moving again when employees returned to work at 7 a.m. October 30.

"We have in hand an agreement that's fair for workers and secures a strong and stable future for the Seaway," CEO Terence Bowles said in a statement on October 29.

Unifor reportedly said that a vote to ratify the deal will be scheduled in the coming days.

"Details of the tentative agreement will first be shared with members and will be made public once an agreement is ratified," a union statement said.

The strike shut down 13 locks on the seaway between Lake Erie and Montreal. It bottled up ships in the Great Lakes and prevented further ships from coming in.

The St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes are part of a system of locks, canals, rivers and lakes that stretches more than 2,300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the western tip of Lake Superior in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 2022, it carried over $12 billion worth of cargo. Ships that use it include oceangoing "salties" and "lakers" that stick to the lakes.

This was the first time that a strike has shut down the vital shipping artery since 1968.

An estimate from the Chamber of Marine Commerce suggested that the strike, which took place during one of the busiest times of the year for the seaway, caused the loss of up to $100 million per day in economic activity across Canada and the US.

"We are pleased that this interruption in vital Seaway traffic has come to an end, and we can focus once more on meeting the needs of consumers around the world," Bruce Burrows - chamber president - said in a statement.

Source: KRWG

(Quotes via original reporting)