Montreal truckers threaten to “shut down the city”

MONTREAL (Octo. 23, 2000) — More than 1200 truckers said they would shut down trucking activity in the city with a strike aimed at getting employers to recognize their unions.

The drivers plan to set up picket lines at 39 trucking companies in and around the city.

The companies have all received requests for accreditation from the Confederation of National Trade Unions, but have failed to respond or are contesting the organizing bid, the truckers told the Montreal Gazette.

A union official said about 60% of the truckers expected on the picket lines are independent owner-operators. Last month, a Quebec Labour Commission judge said that independent truckers should be viewed not as contractors but as employees, which gives them the right to collective bargaining under the province’s labour code.