TORONTO — The Chamber of Marine Commerce is asking for an expedited resumption of operations on the Seaway, now that a tentative contract agreement has been reached between Unifor and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.
Union members returned to work at 7:00 a.m. Monday as the result of a deal reached between the two parties late Sunday.
Ratification is expected to take place in the coming days.
The agreement ended a strike that began on Oct. 22 in the middle of one of the busiest times of the year for the Seaway.
The Chamber of Marine Commerce estimates that the labour dispute cost up to $100 million a day in lost economic activity across Canada and the U.S.
Port of Thunder Bay CEO Chris Heikkinen commented at the outset of the labour disruption that “every day that the strike continues is damaging for the system, but also for our Western Canadian counterparts who are producing grain and other commodities."
