Watch the video above: a backed-up rail transportation system is not meeting the demands to get grain to ports
SASKATOON – With the grain system in Canada already at capacity, a strike notice from the union representing CN rail workers could have catastrophic effects.
Notice was given Tuesday evening, making a strike legal within 72 hours, placing 3,000 CN train and yard operations employees in a position to walk off the job Saturday morning.
Update: Since this story was published, a tentative deal was reached between CN and Teamsters, avoiding a possible strike.
Since the fall, the transportation system has been struggling with capacity issues, creating huge backlogs for farmers wanting to move their grain.
Premier Brad Wall said the strike notice holds agriculture producers hostage in the situation and feels the union is using farmer’s vulnerability as a leveraging point for the strike.
“This is not acceptable,” said Wall.
At the 2014 Agriculture Trade Summit in Saskatoon on Wednesday, Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the Government of Canada will step in if needed – something those in the industry say would be a must given the current situation.
Get weekly money news
What began as a good news story in the fall with bumper crops and full bins, has taken a drastic turn. A system so backed up farmers can only wait to sell their 2013 crops.
“We are not buying grain until July, August, September of this year,” said Kyle Jeworski, CEO and president of Viterra.
Jeworski fears if CN workers are on strike, it would further exacerbate an already bad situation.
Ritz said back to work legislation is an option.
“Everybody has the right to collective bargaining, we don’t disapprove of that,” said Ritz.
“But at the end of the day in my mind from an agricultural perspective and from my government’s perspective, the economy has to be maintained.”
The government has done this before, ordering 4,800 CP employees back to work in the spring of 2012.
Jeworski said their inland terminals are full; however, ports on both coasts and in central Canada have a record amount of space.
He says this points to an issue within the railway system which isn’t functioning to meet the demand.
Railways have blamed cold weather for the slow down.
“Whatever their excuses are, I don’t want excuses, I want a plan moving forward,” said Ritz.
In late January, the federal government announced a five-year project to improve supply chain efficiency and reliability. A week later it announced a more short term solution.
Premier Wall feels this needs to remain a priority into the future.
“Maybe we won’t get to a record crop every year but bigger and bigger crops are going to be the new norm and we will need the logistics system to match it,” said Wall.
Industry experts at the summit sat silently as the Premier voiced his support of the federal government’s approach and they’ll continue to wait for a solution.
Use of rail cars to move fuel and crude oil has risen by about 30 per cent in the past year.
It’s estimated farmer’s have already lost millions of dollars.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.