Montreal dockworkers, employer to start mediation after six-day work stoppage

Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal say they are set to begin mediation with employers after a six-day work stoppage earlier this month.

The union representing nearly 1,200 longshore workers says the two sides have agreed to enter into the process for 90 days, followed by binding arbitration.

The development marks a renewed attempt at negotiation — with outside help — after the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the restart of port operations and the launch of arbitration to reach a new contract.

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The order was issued after federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon stepped in to send workers back on the job, a move the union had said it planned to challenge.

Management has said it would take several weeks to fully restore shipment volumes after the lockout, which ended on Nov. 16.

The work stoppage marked the latest in a string of labour standoffs in Canada that snarled transport operations over the past 18 months, including at the country’s two biggest railways, B.C. ports and the St. Lawrence Seaway.