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By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

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Concerns about grain terminals strike stretch far and wide, including to central Alberta

Sep 26, 2024 | 4:05 PM

The impacts of a strike at Vancouver’s grain terminals are far-reaching, says a pair of officials from the Red Deer area.

The strike began Sept. 24 with the members of the Grain Workers Union Local 333 walking off the job in a fight for, among other things, the ability to take paid lieu days.

It’s estimated by the Grain Growers of Canada that the work stoppage could cost nearly $35 million every day in lost exports.

Rod Bradshaw, chair of Red Deer’s Agri-Trade advisory committee and owner of Beck Farms near Innisfail, spoke to rdnewsNOW about the strike while hard at work on the farm.

Beck Farms produces and exports barley, canola, peas, fava beans, and grows produce for the local market.

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“It’s very concerning for us. This is building on the strike by rail workers in August, which we still haven’t caught back up from. This backs everything up and it hurts cash flow for people who rely on selling grains off the combine,” he explains.

“This also does no good for Canada’s reputation as a supplier of grains, oils and seeds, if we can’t deliver on time. Gone are the days where people could store copious amounts. Any little hiccup in the system causes a great backlog, and then two or three days turns into three or four weeks to solve the problem.”

The reputation line is a similar refrain to what farmers were saying when rail workers went on strike this summer.

But Bradshaw adds, the one somewhat silver lining is that this year, inclement weather had an impact on crops, meaning many farmers aren’t going to experience overflow of their storage facilities, at least not in the early stages of the strike.

He also notes there is a cash advance program for producers to apply for if they can’t sell their stuff, “but it still doesn’t do industry any good if we’re not able to deliver. It tarnishes our reputation.”

Bradshaw says Alberta is unique in that it has to utilize rail to get product to tidewater, unlike other parts of the world — for example in the United States and its use of barges on the Mississippi River system.

He further notes an understanding the workers striking do live in a very expensive part of Canada, but he believes too that those jobs could one day be eliminated in favour of automation.

“My pension relies on me going to work every day and making the right decisions. I’m not saying they don’t have grievances, but it’s very frustrating to sit here knowing I don’t have a pension other than the one the government gives me and everyone else,” he says.

“I think they should have some sober second thought about maybe how good they’ve got it compared to a lot of people. But they obviously feel like they’ve got the hot hand.”

Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce CEO, Scott Robinson, laments the uncertainty this strike will cause for not just producers, but local businesses and consumers.

“As a business community, we are concerned about these actions because in terms of access to international markets, things have to go through British Columbia, and we’re dependent on that,” he says.

“For Red Deerians, if we want to talk about why prices are higher and why things are delayed, or why we don’t have access to certain things, it’s partly because our system is so handcuffed, and we have very little control over it.”

Robinson is hopeful that in the case of this strike, it won’t be a long-term issue.

He also says the Chamber is impartial and not anti-union, but wants to see good faith negotiations, and ensure that due to all of this, the costs don’t continue to get passed onto consumers.

The latest on the strike indicates that the union and employer, the Vancouver Terminal Elevators Association, are to come back to the table together with federal mediators — this after talks with federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon.

The Vancouver Terminal Elevators’ Association represents several western Canadian grain companies that operate elevators in the Port of Vancouver. These companies are Viterra Inc. – Cascadia Terminal; Viterra Inc. – Pacific Terminal; Richardson International Limited; Cargill Limited; and, Alliance Grain Terminal Ltd.

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