The strikers are members of the National Road Transportation Union, affiliated to the Quebec-based Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN). The union was formed two years ago, after an 18-month-long effort to sign up drivers. The workers haul containers, mostly between ports and rail stations.

About 40 percent of the striking drivers are owner-operators, the vast majority of whom are currently paid a per-box move rate, which includes a full container pickup and empty container return. These rates haven’t come close to keeping up with rising costs of operating trucks, especially plates, insurance, and repairs, as well as skyrocketing diesel fuel costs.

The union’s main demand is to pay all drivers an hourly wage, including overtime, and also to pay owner-operators extra truck expenses according to trailer type, including a cost-of-living increase pegged to fuel costs. The union is also asking for seniority rights, vacation and holiday pay, and a pension plan.

After some strikers were threatened by their bosses on the first day of the walkout, the union discussed how to reorganize picket lines so that no one pickets the company he or she works for.  
 
 
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