cptrain


The Grain Growers of Canada, Canadian Fertilizer Institute and others are encouraging Ottawa to use back-to-work legislation with Canadian Pacific Railway workers on strike.

After serving 72 hour strike notice on the weekend, 4,800 CP engineers, conductors, yardmen and others represented by Teamsters Canada Rail Conference walked off the job at 12:01 Wednesday morning.

"It could cripple a large amount of shipping for CP, which is a large part of the grain going out. No grain shipments means no grain sales means no cash back into farmers' pockets," says Richard Phillips, GGC Executive Director.

He says the most damaging effect of a rail strike is the impact it has on foreign customers' confidence.

"They need to know the grain is going to leave a certain point by a certain date. When you have a strike they have to look elsewhere for supplies, because even paying the penalties doesn't get them grain into their mills," says Phillips, noting even during normal operating conditions, Canadian pulse exporters are often only able to procure between 12% and 18% of their car orders.

Thankfully, he says, the strike is not taking place during the post-harvest grain rush or during the fertilizer season leading up to seeding.

CFI says its members are dealing with tight global fertilizer inventory. Domestic, U.S. and offshore demand for Canadian fertilizer has been high this spring, and its members cannot afford the repercussions of interrupted rail service.

The Grain Growers and CFI have written a letter to the Prime Minister, expressing their concern about the labour dispute.

"I think this is a situation where back-to-work legislation could be used. There are some other tools they could use too," says Phillips. "It's unfortunate, when you only have two major railways, it has such a major effect on the national economy, and not just in agriculture. The traditional model of collective bargaining just doesn't appear to be working here."