Lockout at Port of Montreal ends as longshoremen vote to accept interim labor deal with their union and the Maritime Employers Assn.

Liling Tan

MONTREAL , July 23, 2010 (Associated Press) – About 900 longshoremen at the Port of Montreal have voted to accept an interim labor agreement with their union and the Maritime Employers Association, ending an almost week-long lockout by their employer.

Gilles Corriveau, a spokesman for the Maritime Employers Association, said Friday the two sides will work to negotiate a full labor contract to replace one that expired at the end of 2008.

The association says it ordered a lockout because pressure tactics by employees to reach a labor agreement began impeding port operations.

The longshoremen stopped working overtime July 9 in a dispute over wages and overtime payments. The issue for the union is job security, and keeping guaranteed payments when longshoremen are on call and waiting for work.

Corriveau says the first ship could be at the port on Sunday.

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