Striking civil servants have taken their fight with their federal government employer to Canada’s grain ports.
But grain industry regulators say there is no truth to a claim by striking workers that Canada’s grain quality system is being put at risk by the walkouts.
“Canada’s producers and grain customers can be completely confident that the quality and weight of Canadian grain exports are properly assessed and certified,” said Chris Hamblin, chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission.
The commission says non-striking commission staff members, along with properly trained managers, are carrying out the required inspections on all grain being loaded in vessels.
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Grain inspectors at the port of Vancouver staged an illegal one-day strike Sept. 20.
That was followed by legal one-day walkouts by grain weighers at Thunder Bay, Ont., and Vancouver on Sept. 21 and 24, and another legal strike by weighers at the Lakehead Sept. 27.
The Sept. 24 strike at Vancouver shut the port down completely for 16 hours, when unionized grain elevator workers and stevedores refused to cross picket lines at five of the port’s six grain terminals.
Three vessels were being loaded at Thunder Bay Sept. 27, along with rail cars destined for the United States.
The rotating strikes are part of a contract dispute between members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the federal government.
No supervision
In a Sept. 24 News release
news, a union official in Thunder Bay said the commission was allowing elevators to move grain without federal government supervision, which could lead to the delivery of inferior quality grain.
“The CGC decision threatens the reputation of Canadian grain throughout the world,” said Gerry Halabecki, the union’s Ontario regional executive vice-president, describing the commission’s decision to keep grain moving through the terminals as “politically motivated.”
Quality protected
Grain commission spokesperson Paul Graham said the commission has taken the necessary steps to protect the quality of export shipments.
“The quality assurance is being covered off. It just might not be moving as fast,” he said.
The work normally carried out by the striking weighers is being done by a combination of inspectors and other CGC staff and managers who have been trained to fill in.
(See Strike won’t hurt, page 2)
The commission has granted a waiver to allow grain terminals to receive grain from the country without official weighing and inspection, as long as the shipper agrees.
However, all of the normal weighing and inspection is being performed on grain leaving the terminals to be loaded into vessels.
“That’s the crucial part in terms of quality control for our customers,” said Graham.
Only grain weighers are in a legal strike position.
Inspectors will be in a strike position as of Oct. 10, while CGC office and administrative staff will be as of Oct. 2.
Canadian Wheat Board spokesperson Louise Waldman said the marketing agency is satisfied with the quality control measures implemented by the grain commission.
“We have no concerns that the requirements of the Canada Grain Act are not being met.”
She said the Sept. 24 shutdown at Vancouver delayed loading of one vessel, but there has been no other impact on grain movement.
Carlos Carreras, a grain weigher who was on the picket line at the Cascadia terminal in Vancouver last week, said the grain workers are simply looking for fair wages for the increasingly technical and precise work they perform.
“We protect the reputation of the Canadian grain industry abroad and the farmer on the Prairies, and we need to be paid appropriately for that work,” said the 16-year employee.
