To all members of Local 1657

RE: Negotiations Update

DATE:  June 4, 2013

The minister, having received a notice of dispute pursuant to Section 71 of the Canada Labour Code, has appointed Mr. Richard Page Conciliator Officer / Mediator. The next scheduled dates are June 18th and June 20th, 2013.

DATE: May 24, 2013

The negotiating team met with our employer "the MEA" on three different occasions during the past few months. The MEA began negotiations by advising the ILA that we needed to have a collective agreement signed by the end of May, 2013, and if not the MEA would be applying for conciliation. The reason given is that a collective agreement was signed with CUPE 375 and a new work schedule (07:00 - 15:00) needs to be in place by September, 2013. The MEA continued to state that if we were to have the old schedule we would "be crazy" as they would work without us for one hour. Is this negotiations?

The ILA negotiating team met with the MEA as recently as Tuesday May 21st, 2013 and we tried to negotiate with the MEA stating that the union is willing to address the financial situation in the port of Montreal. In return we asked the MEA if they were willing to address our job jurisdiction, i.e., coordinate the movement of cargo and direct the various longshoreman. The President of Mea stated that our demand "will never happen”.

The MEA also stated that within 10 years there will no longer be a need for Checkers. As a result negotiations terminated and it was agreed by both parties to apply for conciliation. A conciliator will be appointed within the next 15 days. The MEA's position is that Checkers at the port of Montreal are an expense that needs to be eliminated. Every member needs to be aware of the importance and seriousness of the negotiations as our future will be dependant on it. We will be keeping the membership up to date as negotiations develop.

ILA Local 1657 Negotiating Committee

View the current Collective Agreement between the MEA and ILA 1657

View the ILA 1657 ByLaws