The responsible office of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is affiliated with the FTQ, and the Société des arrimeurs de Québec, which brings together employers, confirmed the information.

CUPE represents the 81 dockers working in the Port of Quebec.

On August 30, dockers voted 98.5% in favor of a pressure-action mandate that could go as far as a strike. They could theoretically go on strike as early as September 11, but they didn’t.

The union says the employer wants to introduce 12-hour shifts, which undermines work-life balance.

He specified that since the adoption of the mandate for pressure tactics, which could go as far as a strike, its members have started using certain pressure tactics to improve the balance of power at the negotiating table.

“It is really terrible that the employer can fire our members while we are still at the negotiating table,” commented CUPE union representative Dominic Cordeau.

“Not only is the employer hurting the local economy by slowing down stevedore service in the port, but it’s also hurting our city’s international image because we’re in the middle of the cruise season,” the union adviser added.

The Société des stevedores, for its part, claims that it ordered the lockout because it had been “put into an untenable situation” and the stevedore’s coercive tactics were increasing “day by day”.

“The positions of the parties are irreconcilable,” claims the Society of Riggers. “Union demands are impossible to meet in the current context,” she adds.

The union remains confident in the initiated negotiation process. “We always believe that the resolution of our differences lies at the negotiating table,” commented Mr. Cordeau.

On its website, the Port of Quebec bills itself as “Quebec’s Canadian International Trade Center.” Around 28 million tons were handled there last year, “making the port one of the five most important in the country”.

The Port of Quebec also reports that it generates $1.3 billion in economic spin-offs in Canada and that 236,715 visitors were brought by international cruises in 2019, which generated $221 million in economic spin-offs .