The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) announced today that it has reached a tentative collective agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers which represents the Corporation’s 475 unionized employees.
The agreement, which was reached following bargaining which extended through the weekend, is subject to ratification by the union membership. Details of the agreement will not be released pending ratification. Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the SLSMC, indicated that the conclusion of the bargaining process will allow ships to continue transiting the waterway without interruption. The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation is a private, not-for-profit corporation, created pursuant to the Canada Marine Act, to operate and maintain the Canadian Seaway. Since its inception in 1959, over 2.5 billion tonnes of cargo valued in excess of $375 billion has been transported via the waterway. Today, over 60,000 Canadian jobs are directly or indirectly dependent upon cargo transiting the Seaway.