Alex Binkley on labour unions

The Binkley Report

A mature approach to labour relations

But it’s a lot better than a widely-felt shutdown.

The details of the new contract that runs to March 31, 2018, won’t be revealed until the arbitrator rules on several contentious issues. While SMC and Unifor wouldn’t comment on what issues they had agreed to send to binding arbitration, the hot button matter for the union had been the company’s introduction of no hands mooring for specially-equipped ships passing through the Seaway locks.

Meanwhile shippers and shipping lines are making a final push to deliver as much cargo as possible before the shipping seasons wraps up at the end of December. They also need to catch some breaks in the weather if the Seaway is to come close the 40 million tonnes of freight it had haoped to handle this year.

The agreement between the Seaway and the Union “is positive for industry, labour, and the Seaway as we innovate and aim for increased trading,” said Robert Lewis-Manning, President of the Canadian Shipowners Association. Back when the union was threatening a strike, he had warned it could sink the Seaway’s amazing rebound after losing the first four weeks of the 2014 shipping season to heavy ice throughout the Great Lakes. Figures to the end of September showed tonnage was 5% higher than at the same point in 2013 and getting closer to the much better results posted in 2012.

“We have been meeting night and day the past week to reach a deal, and came to the conclusion that arbitration was the best way to resolve remaining issues,” Unifor National Representative Joel Fournier said. Both the union and the company plan early meetings with the arbitrator.

The Unifor had threatened to strike on Oct. 31, and then extended the deadline to Nov. 3. Late on Nov. 2, the two sides agreed to binding arbitration.

Faced with a possible strike, the Seaway had planned to implement a phased shutdown on its Montreal-Lake Ontario and Welland Canal locks to ensure no ships were trapped in either system in the event the works walked off the job. In the end “shipping continued virtually without any disruption,” said Seaway spokesman Andrew Bogara.

The union said the no hands mooring system to tie up ships in the Seaway locks was unsafe and would result in the layoff of workers who are needed to deal with emergencies. “We believe that having no one at the lock is not a good idea," said Fournier. "The risk of an environmental disaster with all of the dangerous cargo going through the Seaway is very real.”

The Seaway has begun installing the system, which involves a magnet-like device that holds a ship in place and eliminates the need to tie up and untie the ship with mooring lines.

Bogara said the system includes a heavy duty cable that would stop any ship that loses power or steering before it can damage Seaway facilities. “It works much like the arrestors on an aircraft carrier.” He said the employees currently engaged in mooring ships would work on maintenance and other jobs. “We would also have a roving team of workers who would assist ships not equipped with the no hands mooring technology.”
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