Oct. 29—CORNWALL, Ontario — Shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway is set to resume at 7 a.m. Monday after being shut down for about a week by a labor strike.
The St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., which operates the Canadian side of the Seaway's operations, and Unifor, a union that represents about 360 Seaway workers in Canada, announced Sunday that a tentative agreement had been reached to end the strike that had shut down shipping since just after midnight on Oct. 22.
"We have in hand an agreement that's fair for workers and secures a strong and stable future for the Seaway," Terrence Bowles, president and CEO of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp, said in a brief statement Sunday.
"We know that this strike has not been easy for anyone, and value the patience and cooperation of our marine industry binational partners; carriers, shippers, ports, local communities and all those who depend on this vital transportation corridor on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border," Bowles said.
The agreement still needs to be ratified by workers. Unifor said in a statement that details of the agreement would first be shared with union members and then be made public once the agreement was ratified. A vote on the agreement is expected in the coming days.
"For the first time in 55 years Seaway workers took the very hard decision to go on strike," Lana Payne, Unifor's national president, said. "They did so to fight for a more respectful workplace and for an agreement that reflects today's economic times."
Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector. Employees of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., which oversees the U.S. side of the Seaway's operations, were not part of the strike and have remained on the job throughout the work stoppage.