Port of Vancouver elevator strike will have ‘devastating impact’ on farmers say Grain Growers

An impending strike of grain terminal workers at the Port of Vancouver will have a devastating impact on Prairie farmers who are in the midst of harvest says Grain Growers of Canada.

On Sept. 21, Grain Workers Union Local 333 issued a 72-hour strike notice to terminal operators represented by the Vancouver Terminal Elevators Association (VTEA). According to a letter posted to the union’s Facebook page, workers will walk off the job on Tuesday morning.

Affected sites including Viterra’s Cascadia and Pacific Terminals, the Richardson International Terminal, the Cargill Limited Terminal, the G3 Terminal Vancouver and Alliance Grain Terminal according to a notice from the Shipping Federation of Canada. Unaffected sites include Fraser Grain Terminal and Prince Rupert Grain Ltd.

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In a news release, Grain Growers of Canada said the terminal elevators at the port received a bit more than half of all grain produced in Canada last year. Citing Canadian Grain Commission data, it estimated a work stoppage would halt nearly 100,000 metric tonnes of grain arriving each day.

“GGC is calling on the federal government and Minister of Labour, Steven MacKinnon, to use all tools available to them to ensure parties reach an agreement before a work stoppage occurs,” the organization said in the news release.

“Without intervention, Canada’s international trading reputation will continue to suffer, leading to the loss of key global markets and customers.”

The union, in the letter to members, alleged that the VTEA had put “very little effort” into negotiations last week, had been slow to respond to proposals, and at time of writing, had not produced a counter offer to its last proposal.

“It is the VTEA’s move,” the union said.