Port of Montreal
Wal-Mart Canada is among the retailers trying to minimize the impact of the lockout of 900 longshoremen who work at the Port of Montreal and unload consumer goods.
Wal-Mart hopes the lockout is resolved quickly, spokeswoman Susan Schutta said Tuesday.
"We are working through the situation to try and minimize the impact on our operation," Ms. Schutta said in a statement.
"However, if the shutdown is not resolved quickly, it will have a serous impact on all businesses who rely on the Port of Montreal," she said.
Wal-Mart, which sells merchandise from countries such as China, didn't provide details of how it's dealing with the lockout.
Locked-out longshoremen and their employer are scheduled to meet later this week for talks, with the help of a federal mediator.
The two sides and the mediator are scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday, a spokesman for the Maritime Employers Association said.
"The employers are ready to sit and get it solved as soon as possible," Gilles Corriveau said Tuesday, adding the talks could extend into the weekend.
The lockout of about 900 longshoremen will cost the employers association $800,000 per week, Mr. Corriveau said.
However, there are also fears the lockout could be much more costly for businesses that use the port to get imported food and consumer goods
Mr. Corriveau said containers full of goods, some of which could be perishable, were still sitting at the port.
At issue for the union is job security, as well as keeping guaranteed payments when longshoremen are on call and waiting for work.
The longshoremen, who unload shipping containers full of goods at the port, have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2008.
Union spokesman Daniel Tremblay said representatives are willing to meet with the mediator.
"We're still open to negotiations," Mr. Tremblay said.
Wine from Europe and sofas, are among numerous imported consumer goods affected by the lockout that began Monday.
Quebec's provincial liquor board has said it has enough European wine to last several weeks.
Mr. Corriveau said businesses that depend on the port to get their goods in or out of Canada will have to decide how long they want to wait.
"Are they going to wait before shipping or are they going to reroute their stuff and have it shipped by another harbour or by another way. It could be airlines, for instance, for certain companies," he said.
Mr. Corriveau pointed out that some ships are being redirected to Halifax, New York and Norfolk, Va.
The federally operated Port of Montreal has asked for a court injunction to limit the number of pickets.
The Port of Montreal, the country's second-largest after the Port of Vancouver, says it generates spinoffs of some $2-billion annually, and creates more than 17,600 direct and indirect jobs.