CORNWALL, Ont. – Unionized workers with the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation have ratified a new three year agreement.
Seaway President Terence Bowles said Thursday (Oct. 18), the agreement was reached earlier this month and allowed the seaway to run uninterrupted “to the thousands of entities that depend upon marine transportation.”
Terms of the deal with Unifor, covering the 460 employees, were not provided. It’s retroactive to April 2018 and runs through March 2021.
In 2014, a strike was narrowly averted as both sides took their contract dispute to arbitration. The main sticking point was the seaway’s plan to automate the locks, eliminating some positions. That project has since been completed.
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation operates the Canadian locks and channels. Over 160 million metric tons of cargo move through the seaway every year.