A port strike has begun in Canada as American workers prepare to picket

As the US economy prepares for a potentially devastating blow to its East Coast ports, Canada is already dealing with its own.

About 320 seafarers represented by a local affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees began a 72-hour strike Monday morning, freezing work at two terminals in the Port of Montreal. Those terminals, that is operated by Termontit represents approximately 40% of the containers moving through the port.

Port of Montreal impacts 37,774 jobs and contributes $2.7 billion to Canada’s economy each year, according to a 2023 study. It also provides more than 2,000 US jobs and $145 million in economic benefits.

“The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) expresses its disappointment that no agreement has been reached between the MEA and the Longshoremen’s Union to avoid a work stoppage,” the authority said in a statementadding that the outage will cost $90.7 million per day of shutdown.

The union, which has 1,150 seafarers as members, last week rejected the latest offer from the Maritime Employers’ Association (AEM) by margins of more than 99% and filed a strike notice. The union said it would not go on strike if conditions on operations and foremen’s scheduling were met, according to the Montreal Gazette.

“AEM ​​tried by all available means to avoid the strike planned for tomorrow at Termont Company’s Viau and Maisonneuve terminals in the Port of Montreal, but to no avail,” the group said in a statement.

Read more: A major US port strike could soon rock the economy. Here’s what you need to know

The strike reflects a similar but far more devastating situation developing in the US, where more than 85,000 liquidators are poised to walk off the job on Tuesday. East Coast and Gulf Coast workers are poised to strike as negotiations between the International Liquidators Association and the association representing port authorities and companies remain divided.

Virtually all industries would be affected by a strike. Shipments of foreign fruit, including pineapples, bananas, citrus fruits and grapes, that normally enter the US via its East and Gulf coasts could be caught in the crossfire. Auto and pharmaceutical companies would also face severe disruptions in transporting goods to stores, potentially pushing up prices across the country.

The potential damage from such a strike is expected to cost somewhere between $1 billion and 5 billion dollars a dayaccording to Container xChange and JP Morgan shipping container market analysis (JPM). Oxford Economics said a prolonged strike could affect up to 100,000 jobs and reduce US economic activity by between $4.5 billion and $7.5 billion for each week it lasts.

Thursday, United States Maritime Alliance filed an unfair labor practice charge and asked the National Labor Relations Board to require the union to resume negotiations. In response, the ILA declared the allegation “another publicity stunt”.

The union is expected to provide an update on the negotiations later Monday morning in its first public statement since last week.