SFL blasts Wall for letter to transport minister

Saskatchewan Federation of Labour president Larry Hubich criticized Premier Brad Wall for the letter he sent this week asking the federal government to prevent a possible strike by railway workers.

“It seems that every time there’s anything to do with workers, he comes out swinging in about two seconds, and I don’t know that that’s particularly appropriate, nor conducive to decent working relationships,” Hubich said Thursday.

After the union representing 3,000 CN railway workers issued a strike notice earlier this week, the premier wrote to the federal transportation minister asking the federal government to intervene. Wall said a strike would exacerbate the backlog in shipping grain currently affecting Saskatchewan producers. The union and CN reached a tentative agreement late Wednesday.

Hubich said the premier’s attitude is concerning, especially as the labour movement in the province is trying to develop a better relationship with Wall’s Saskatchewan Party government.

“It makes it very challenging when every time there’s even a hint of workers exercising their constitutional right, we get this overheated rhetoric and fingerpointing and the us-versus-them attitude,” Hubich added.

Cam Broten, leader of the province’s NDP Opposition, refused to say whether he agreed with the SFL’s take, although he noted Wall’s government has had a rocky relationship with labour.

“If we look at the track record of this government, we certainly have seen eagerness to not support the collective bargaining process,” Broten said. “The zeal that this government has for interfering in those types of situations, we need that kind of zeal to actually address the grain transportation crisis … It’s not enough simply to intervene early in the process of collective bargaining that was going on. What’s needed is the determination to actually step up and take action.”

Broten reiterated his party’s calls for the provincial government to encourage the federal government to put pressure on railway companies by allowing for joint running rights and implementing non-performance penalties.

In response, Wall reiterated Thursday that he has told the federal government Saskatchewan will support any actions it deems necessary to address the situation, including penalties.

“I noted that Mr. Broten was nowhere to be seen, again, on the issue of the Teamsters’ threatened strike,” Wall said. “Mr. Broten seems to be picking his spots. He wants to avoid a fight with the union bosses on this, but not the companies, and that’s of concern.”

Wall said all stakeholders should be pressured “to get the job done” and he also disagrees with the SFL’s take on his letter, given that the province’s important agriculture and resource sectors are affected by the backlog.

“I am always going to stand up for the interests of the province, and sometimes that means taking a difficult decision,” Wall said. “We respect the fact that collective bargaining has to happen, but there are reasons that governments take back-to-work measures from time to time, and this was a very viable reason.”

The provincial agriculture minister previously dismissed the NDP’s suggestion of joint running rights — allowing a railway to operate on another company’s lines for compensation — as simplistic.

Broten said some producer groups also support the idea. It could increase options and put pressure on rail companies, he said.