{"id":711162,"date":"2026-06-03T00:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/711162\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T00:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:59:13","slug":"possibility-of-marine-atlantic-strike-sends-shockwaves-throughout-n-l-s-industry-associations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/711162\/","title":{"rendered":"Possibility of Marine Atlantic strike sends \u2018shockwaves\u2019 throughout N.L.\u2019s industry associations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

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The possibility that Marine Atlantic could offer reduced crossings due to a potential strike has sent \u201cshockwaves\u201d throughout Newfoundland and Labrador\u2019s industry associations, says one business leader.<\/p>\n

St. John\u2019s Board of Trade CEO AnnMarie Boudreau said ferry service is essentially the province\u2019s highway to the rest of Canada and should remain an essential service in the eyes of the Canadian Industrial Relations Board\u2019s (CIRB) for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n

She pointed to the transportation of products like perishable goods and medical supplies to the island portion of the province, and the increased cost businesses would face if they have less frequent shipments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re talking about a critical link,\u201d said Boudreau.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ASt. John’s Board of Trade CEO AnnMarie Boudreau says Marine Atlantic is a ‘critical link’ between N.L. and the rest of Canada. (Danny Arsenault\/CBC)<\/p>\n

The union representing 700 Marine Atlantic employees has asked the CIRB to reconsider the ferry service\u2019s essential status, which could result in a major reduction of services.<\/p>\n

Unifor\u2019s request could reverse a 2003 decision from CIRB that determined service would continue as usual in the event of a work stoppage.<\/p>\n

Unifor has specifically requested the Argentia route be suspended and the Port aux Basques route be reduced to three crossings per week in the event of a strike or lockout \u2014 it currently operates three crossing per day.<\/p>\n

WATCH | High stakes in Marine Atlantic service talks:\"\"<\/p>\n

Essential service? Reaction swift to union request on Marine Atlantic service status<\/p>\n

It’s considered an essential service, but Unifor is asking the Canadian Industrial Relations Board if it has to be. Talks broke off between the union and Marine Atlantic last month. Now, the union is looking for changes to the Port aux Basques and Argentia runs.<\/p>\n

Marine Atlantic has declined interview requests, but spokesperson Darrell Mercer told Radio-Canada in an email there are typically three return trips between North Sydney, N.S. and Port aux Basques per day; and one crossing between North Sydney and Argentia per day.<\/p>\n

Mercer said the Crown corporation is preparing its submission to CIRB to argue it\u2019s an essential service.<\/p>\n

\u2018Any kind of slowdown\u2026 is a problem\u2019<\/p>\n

N.L. Premier Tony Wakeham said a labour dispute is \u201ca big concern,\u201d and referred to how much of the province\u2019s seafood is transported by Marine Atlantic ferries.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarine Atlantic is an essential service,\u201d said Wakeham.<\/p>\n

He said the province is at a point where capacity needs to be increased, not decreased.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny kind of a slowdown in Marine Atlantic is a problem for us. As a matter of fact, I would argue that we need even more ships,\u201d said Wakeham.<\/p>\n

\"AN.L. Premier Tony Wakeham, speaking at the Energy N.L. conference in St. John’s Tuesday, says Marine Atlantic is an essential service. (Patrick Butler\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n

Federal Finance Minister Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne, who was in St. John\u2019s for Energy N.L.’s conference Tuesday, said Ottawa will be made aware of the issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to require all our attention\u2026working with the province to find a way forward,\u201d said Champagne.<\/p>\n

When could a strike happen?<\/p>\n

Conciliation \u2014 a form of mediation \u2014 between Unifor and Marine Atlantic expires next week. It followed a breakdown in negotiations late April, according to Unifor.<\/p>\n

After June 8, there will be a 21-day \u201ccooling period\u201d before a strike or lockout can happen.<\/p>\n

In a statement from Unifor April 3, Atlantic Regional Director Jennifer Murray said, \u201cIt’s clear Marine Atlantic wants to block our members’ right to strike and that is why it is failing to engage at the bargaining table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unifor also declined a request for an interview with CBC News.<\/p>\n

Download our\u00a0free CBC News app<\/a>\u00a0to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our\u00a0daily headlines newsletter here<\/a>. Click\u00a0here to visit our landing page<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,49,48],"class_list":["post-711162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}