More than 600 grain terminal workers at a half dozen facilities in the port of Vancouver hit the bricks earlier today, creating more headaches for prairie farmers. This walkout comes only a month after both major railways were hit by a strike-lockout for four days, until the dispute was sent to binding arbitration. Wages appears to be the number one issue in this dispute.
The strike is affecting operations at the port for companies like Viterra, Richardson, Cargill, G-3 and Alliance, and it couldn’t come at a worse time, as prairies farmers are getting close to wrapping up the harvest.
Wade Sobkowich is with the Western Grain Elevator Association and shares the timing is terrible for the industry. “Harvest is just over and, not only that, we’re trying to get these canola vessels out before we have what we expect to be either a tariff or a ban on canola coming out of Canada into China. We’re not sure what the timeline is going to be, it hasn’t been decided yet. The union knows that and they are using that as a lever in the conversation.”
By some estimates, a strike by terminal workers in Vancouver could cost upwards of 30 million dollars a day. That would include demurage costs for ships waiting to be loaded in the port of Vancouver.
Sobkowich says the true impact of a strike by terminal workers is unclear right now, but it could be similar to the impact of the 4 day double rail strike last month.
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