(Reuters circulated the following story by Roberta Rampton on March 9.)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — A group representing Canada’s specialty crop marketers said on Tuesday it will “most likely” ask the federal government to intervene to end a strike at Canadian National Railway Co.
The Canadian Special Crops Association said companies that transport crops like peas, lentils and mustard via rail containers have seen shipments slump by up to 30 percent with the strike at CN Rail now in its third week.
“We would like to see this issue resolved sooner rather than later because it has the potential to affect our image as a reliable supplier,” executive director Francois Catellier told Reuters, adding the association plans to take its case to Ottawa as early as Wednesday.
The call for government intervention comes as Canada’s largest railway broke off talks on Sunday night with the Canadian Auto Workers union, which represents 5,000 striking mechanics, office clerk and container yards workers.
CN also withdrew all the improvements it made to its original contract offer in January, which was rejected by union members last month. The strike began on Feb 20.
Both sides maintained informal contact on Tuesday but no real bargaining session was planned.
“There is no need for government intervention and we believe that free collective bargaining is the best way to go,” CN spokesman Mark Hallman said.
STUCK IN SASKATOON
Major grain shippers including the Canadian Wheat Board have said bulk shipments of grain have been moving at near-normal rates to ports for export.
But specialty shippers — many of whom are small entrepreneurs based in rural parts of the Prairies — have been hit hard because 25 percent of their crops move by intermodal containers.
“I’m hearing stories from some of the local companies out there who are having to lay off staff because of no processing to be done because of no availability of containers,” Catellier said.
“The Saskatoon (Saskatchewan) intermodal yard is essentially closed,” Catellier said.
Other shippers have faced extra costs to truck containers from further afield, he said.
CN said the strike has partially shut down its Saskatoon terminal, but denied shippers were left with no resources.
“Some are trucking to other, larger terminals, others are using box cars or hopper cars, which are moving in and out of Saskatchewan in a normal manner,” Hallman said.
“We regret that the Saskatoon terminal is only operating intermittently, but the fact of the matter is that there are choices for the shippers and they can make effective use of them.”
The industry estimates it will export a total of 2.6 million tonnes of special crops worth C$740 million in the 2003-04 crop year, which runs from August to July, with an estimated C$220 million of that moving by containers.
“This is an extremely sensitive time of the year because we’re still at the peak of demand for our crops right now and I’m hearing stories of significant delays,” Catellier said.
Bookings for containers moving on Pacific Ocean routes are being delayed by five to six weeks, he said, in part because of the strike.
The strike has also hurt companies that load containers on the West Coast and in Montreal, Catellier said. Some transloaders on CN lines are operating at 25 percent of capacity, he said.
“Part of the problem is the CN customer service reps and clerks are out on strike and management is burning out trying to get things together. But they clearly don’t have the technical expertise to do the logistics that are required in this industry,” he said.
(Additional reporting by Charles Grandmont in Montreal)