(Reuters circulated the following story by Roberta Rampton on February 17.)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Canadian grain shippers said Tuesday they expect only minor delays if workers at Canada’s largest railway go on strike as scheduled this Friday.
About 5,000 Canadian shopcraft, clerical and intermodal yard workers at Canadian National Railway Co. are set to walk off the job after the Canadian Auto Workers union rejected tentative deals on three contracts with CN.
Canada’s labor minister called for last-ditch talks between the two sides for Wednesday to settle disputes over wages and benefits, but union officials were not optimistic about averting a strike.
CN has said it plans to use management in the event of a strike to keep grain traffic moving.
“CN has assured us there will be no impact on grain movement,” said Louise Waldman, spokesperson for the Canadian Wheat Board, the country’s largest grain shipper.
“We expect there will be no significant impact, but we may see some slowdowns if the labor dispute does take place,” Waldman said.
The wheat board expects to be able to fill sales orders in the event of a strike without incurring expensive demurrage charges because of delays at port, Waldman said.
Canada’s largest grain company, Agricore United , also expects few delays, a spokeswoman said.
“We’re always worried about a bit of a disruption, but we don’t really expect there to be any real disruption to our business with this particular strike action, if it occurs,” Radean Carter said.
The grain industry relies on two railways to carry most of its production out of the land-locked Canadian prairies to west coast ports, the eastern St. Lawrence Seaway, and to many U.S. destinations.
The looming strike at CN comes at a time when shipments by Canada’s No. 2 railway, Canadian Pacific Railway , have been slowed by cold weather, blizzards and an avalanche.
Canadian canola shippers have not faced any undue delays or demurrage charges because of CP’s weather problems, but need the rail system to be working more efficiently by March, an industry official said.
“Even if CN is going to continue working (through the strike) … we’re in a position where there’s bound to be some minor disruption,” said Barb Isman, president of the Canola Council of Canada.
“We’ve probably got about two weeks for this entire thing to be straightened around, and then vessel nominations are really picking up,” Isman said, noting canola shippers anticipate more exports in March.
($1=$1.31 Canadian)