Strike looms amid grain backlog

TORONTO Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. could see thousands of workers walk off the job as soon as April 21 after the union representing conductors and locomotive engineers authorized strike action on Friday.

The union’s decision comes as Canada’s major railways work to alleviate a grain backlog that has infuriated many producers in Western Canada.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) representing CP workers said Friday that members voted 94.2 per cent in favour of authorizing strike action. The union says it’s about 3,000 members could go on strike as early as 12:01 a.m. on April 21.

“Despite our best efforts to negotiate in good faith, we have come to a point where Teamsters are prepared to go on strike for the third time in six years to obtain a fair and reasonable contract renewal,” TCRC president Doug Finnson said in a statement released Friday.

Teamsters spokesperson Christopher Monette added in an interview that among the key outstanding issues in negotiations are long hours and worker fatigue, something he said is a public safety concern. As well, the union says CP’s increasing profits have come at the cost of cuts, layoffs and closures.

“CP is a profitable company making billions of dollars, but so far in the negotiations, they ’ve asked for cuts and concessions in all areas of the collective agreement, which is unfair and unacceptable to Teamsters members,” Monette said.

CP did not respond to a request for comment.

Both CP and rival CN have been facing government scrutiny and a backlash from customers over significant delays that have caused a backlog in grain shipments.

Ian Boxall, vice-president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said the railways are already struggling to meet the delivery targets set out in light of the backlog and that any further disruptions — such as a union strike — could be “a huge disaster.”

“Both railroads only delivered 69 per cent of cars ordered last week.

They are not overachieving when it comes to getting rid of the backlog,” he said Friday.

“Any hiccup in the rail system now is a huge disaster for Western Canada.”