MONTREAL — Port of Montreal officials and the union representing nearly 900 locked out longshoremen have agreed to sit down later this week and negotiate an end to the abrupt labor dispute that began yesterday.

The two sides will meet with a federal mediator on Thursday and Friday, a spokesman for the Maritime Employers Association told CTV News.

The port is said to be paralyzed as containers began piling up at Canada’s second-largest port immediately after the workers were locked out by the MEA.

The longshoremen, represented by Local 375 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2008.

Port officials say they locked out the workers in response to union pressure tactics, such as work slow downs throughout last week.
The union wants wage security.

The company wants to limit the pay for the least senior workers. Longshoremen are on call around the clock, but are guaranteed pay even when there isn’t any work.

Nearly 80 percent of goods moving through the port are destined for Quebec, but businesses in other parts of the country, especially those that ship through the Toronto-Montreal corridor, are being impacted.

Retailers, some of which have goods in containers that are already sold, will have to wait even longer for their shipments.
Larger retailers are already making arrangements to divert incoming containers to other ports like Halifax. Officials there say that the eastern port is running at only a third of capacity and can more than handle the extra containers.

An Oceanex cargo ship originally bound for Montreal entered Halifax harbour this morning.

While freight activity is down in the last couple of years, the port did enjoy a 13 percent boost in cargo in the first half of 2010.