Unionized staff with the St. Lawrence Seaway could be in a legal strike position as of midnight on Monday, closing down the Welland Canal and the entire seaway to shipping traffic.

An earlier strike vote by the Canadian Auto Workers, which represents 445 unionized staff, gives the union a mandate to strike on 72 hours’ notice any time after midnight on Friday.

Jean Aubry-Morin, the new acting regional vice-president for the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., said Friday afternoon that talks were continuing in the hope of averting a strike.

“Both parties are very actively working on it as we speak,” he said.
The seaway corporation was working to vacate all the ships out of the system in case the contract talks fail, said Aubry-Morin.

In the event that there is a strike, the corporation will ensure that all the bridges over the Welland Canal are down and available to pedestrians and motorists, he said.

Among the stumbling blocks in contract talks is the seaway corporation’s plan to introduce new technologies such as hands-free mooring systems for ships. Management said in an earlier news release that the new technology is needed if the shipping system is to remain competitive in the face of fierce competition from other forms of transportation and that job security for existing employees is a “firm commitment.”

The seaway corporation said clauses in the contract that impede flexibility in work rules must be changed if the system is to be sustainable into the future.

Stuart Theis, executive director of the U.S. Great Lakes Shipping Association, told Niagara this Week last month that the strike would cripple the seaway, which plays a vital role in the mass transportation of products such as iron ore, wheat and coal.

The Ottawa-based Chamber of Marine Commerce warned that if a strike occurs, regions from the industrial heart of Ontario to the Prairies and to east of Montreal will be severely disabled as industrial shippers are suddenly unable to get vast quantities of raw materials and finished products to and from market.

But the chamber said it is 100 per cent behind the seaway corporation’s push for new technologies to ensure the transportation system remains relevant and competitive in the future.