CORNWALL, Ont. -- The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) has announced that its unionized employees, members of UNIFOR, ratified a three-year labor agreement covering the period of April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2021.

Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the SLSMC, praised the negotiating teams for achieving another multi-year agreement.

“A fair labour settlement was reached earlier this month, enabling the St. Lawrence Seaway to continue providing uninterrupted service to the thousands of entities that depend upon marine transportation, including manufacturing, retail, and agriculture,” Bowles said in a press release from SLSMC.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation is a private, not-for-profit corporation, created in 1998 pursuant to the Canada Marine Act, to operate and maintain the Canadian locks and channels of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Since the St. Lawrence Seaway’s inception in 1959, almost 3 billion tonnes of cargo has been transported via the waterway.

Some 329,000 jobs and $59 billion in economic activity are supported by the movement of goods within the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence River System.

As the lynchpin connecting the Great Lakes to the lower St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean, the St. Lawrence Seaway’s locks form a vital trade corridor for markets found within North America and across the world.

For more information on the Seaway, please consult the www.greatlakes-seaway.com website.