REGINA (Staff) – Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and the Grain Services Union announced Sept. 19 that they had negotiated new labor contracts, ending the GSU strike that began Sept. 7.
Striking employees returned to work Tuesday. Details of the settlement were to be released after union members held ratification votes this week.
The settlement, reached late Sunday night, followed a weekend of intense negotiations and a week of escalating activity by both sides.
On Sept. 16, the pool’s Vancouver terminal shut down operations as port grain workers declined to cross GSU picket lines. Pool management said they would cope with the closure by diverting grain elsewhere.
Also on Sept. 16, the pool said more than 280 of its 413 elevator points were operating, most with unionized staff who declined to join the strike. A total of 333 elevators were operating Sept. 19. Grain handlings were 600,000 tonnes ahead of the same period last year.
