Stevedores and other members of the Longshoremen’s Protective Union Local 1953 have notified the Minister of Labour that it will be conducting a strike vote in their dispute with the St. John’s Shipping Association.
The LSPU says the dispute centers around wages, benefits, pensions, union recognition and retention of work practices.
The LSPU’s members have been moving general cargo and other items for more than 119 years. The last strike was in 1964, but Union Local 1953 President Chris Gosse says a strike now appears inevitable as the employer’s latest wage offer is “well below” the cost of living.
