Miners bracing for uncertainty after layoffs: union

Hundreds of workers at a potash mine a few kilometres southwest of Saskatoon are adjusting to a new reality after most of them were handed temporary layoff notices this week, according to the head of their union.

Unlike other mines in the province, the former Agrium Inc. operation at Vanscoy — which is now owned by Nutrien Ltd. — rarely shut down for “inventory adjustments,” United Steelworkers Local 7552 president Darrin Kruger said.

“We never did that,” Kruger said in an interview Friday morning, one day after Nutrien Ltd. announced that it would temporarily halt production at two mines and issue pink slips to a about 610 miners, including 470 at Vanscoy.

“We were the only mine, so we had to produce all the time. Now that we’re part of the bigger picture, we’re going to have to somehow adapt … It’s a big adjustment, for sure,” Kruger said, noting the recall date is late next week.

Kruger noted the company made and subsequently corrected mistakes when issuing notices. He said some veteran miners were handed pink slips while others, with less seniority, thought they would keep working.

Nutrien, which was formed in the merger between Agrium and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., on Thursday confirmed the temporary layoffs at Vanscoy as well as its Allan mine southeast of Saskatoon.

The Saskatoon-based mining giant blamed the temporary shutdowns on poor performance from the railways, which haul potash from its six mines in the province to ports, where it is shipped to customers overseas.

Premier Scott Moe in a statement said the miners are temporarily out of work “because sheds full of potash can’t get on rail to market,” a reference to the major rail backlog that sent farmers scrambling this winter.

The railways take a different view.

Canadian National Railway Co. acknowledged that January was difficult but said all of its orders for Nutrien and Canpotex Ltd. — the international potash marketing company owned by Nutrien and Mosaic Co. — are current.

“CN is meeting (and going above) its contractual commitments with Canpotex and we have extra capacity available to export potash through the Port of St. John, NB.,” spokeswoman Kate Fenske said in an email on Friday.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. spokesman Jeremy Berry said in an emailed statement on Thursday that “CP continues to work closely with our potash customers, delivering record levels of potash exports in the first quarter.”

Plymouth, Minn.-based Mosaic confirmed Thursday that warehouses at its three mines in Saskatchewan are close to full. Spokeswoman Sarah Fedorchuk said the company is monitoring the situation but not planning layoffs.

Nutrien on Friday declined to comment further.

Kruger said USW Local 7552 members — many of whom are young and have only a few years’ service at the mine — are bracing for their first unexpected week without pay in nine years.

“They still have bill payments. They’ve still got to make mortgage payments. It’s a huge impact on them … not knowing what the future holds.”