Port employers and the International Longshoremen’s Association have reached a tentative labor agreement running through 2028, offering customers of the Canadian Atlantic gateway the prospect of a more predictable operating environment if the settlement is ratified.
The proposed agreement would succeed the port’s previous collective contract, which covered Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2025. That agreement was ratified in June 2023, more than a year after its effective date.
Contract details were not disclosed.
The Halifax Employers Association represents longshore employers, vessel owners and operators, shipping lines and agents. The previous collective agreement covered three ILA locals: Local 269, representing longshore workers; Local 1341, representing freight and steamship checkers; and Local 1825, representing gear repair and maintenance workers. PSA is the primary container terminal operator; Halifax serves container carriers including CMA CGM, Mediterranean Shipping Co., Ocean Network Express and Atlantic Container Line, along with regional operators such as Eimskip and Tropical Shipping.
The last contract combined higher compensation with provisions intended to improve the port’s efficiency and competitive position. It provided annual wage increases of 4.5%, 5%, 4% and 3.75%, along with increases in pension and welfare trust assessments during the final three years.
It also addressed container-terminal modernization, attendance and greater flexibility in ordering labor, while eliminating the Mid-West Cargo rebate agreement. Employers and union representatives said at the time that those measures were intended to improve efficiency for customers while addressing employees’ needs.
The proposed Halifax settlement comes as the Canadian government works on new port legislation, placing the negotiations within a broader debate over the country’s maritime gateways.
Why it matters: The new agreement offers certainty at a gateway serving not just Atlantic Canada, but central Canada and the U.S. Midwest.
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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