Toronto, Ontario — With the labour disputes at the Port of Montreal coming to a head, leading the longshoremen to announce a partial strike for April 13, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) is calling on the federal government to intervene to ensure service continuity at the port.
A shutdown at this, one of the country’s busiest ports, holds the potential to cause significant backups and potential losses for much of Canada’s manufacturing industry, including automotive manufacturing.
“Some manufacturers have had to redirect their containers to the Port of Halifax, incurring millions in additional costs every week. Industry will have to absorb these costs and delays, and it will ultimately hurt consumers. The situation also threatens manufacturers’ ability to get the materials they need to make essential goods for Canadians. We must prevent a repeat of last summer. Supply chains, businesses, our economic recovery, and the livelihoods of hardworking Canadians cannot sustain further shutdowns.” said president and CEO of CME Dennis Darby.
According to Darby, settling the situation in Montreal is a natural step in restarting the economy.
“As governments are investing billions of dollars to restart the economy, it doesn’t make any sense to allow a slowdown of operations at the Port of Montreal. This is why we need the federal government to intervene”, said Darby.
