Port Authority: bridge blockade costing $1M and counting

The Hamilton Port Authority says it is talking to senior officials at United Steelworkers Local 1005, about ending the blockade that’s prevented ships from entering and leaving Hamilton Harbour.

Port Authority president and CEO Bruce Wood says the bridge picket has cost more than a million dollars so far and that number will continue to grow. As of Friday evening, there are two vessels and two tugs anchored on the lake side of the bridge waiting to come into the port. An additional seven vessels are expected to arrive this weekend.

Locked-out U.S. Steel workers continued their picket for a third night. They are trying to keep a ship loaded with hamilton-produced coke – a material used in steel production – from heading to a U.S. Steel plant in Alabama.

The protest has caught the attention of the federal justice ministry, which has threatened a court injunction against the protestors, but they say they’re not going anywhere.

Local 1005’s Jake Lombardo says “as long as that coke boat is trying to get out we’re not going to be leaving the bridge. The federal government’s gotta get involved.”

The port authority points out that other businesses have been affected by this as well – including the city’s other major steelmaker, ArcelorMittal Dofasco.