Grain inspectors at Thunder Bay, Ont., began returning to work April 3, six days after walking out to protest what they called unsafe working conditions.
The Canadian Grain Commission employees said increasing stress and uncertainty arising from staff cuts and layoffs had created a volatile and potentially dangerous work environment.
“People were fearful about going to work,” said Judith Monteith-Farrell, regional representative for the Public Service Alliance of Canada. “They were fearful that some incident might happen, that someone might snap because tensions are so high.”
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The Canada Labor Code permits employees to refuse to perform dangerous work.
Inspectors and weighers began returning to work following several days of investigation and consultations with an official from Labor Canada.
While full details surrounding the decision to return were unavailable at press time, officials said the Labor Canada investigator was approving each site at the port individually.
“The investigation isn’t complete, but the investigator has been to a number of work sites today and deemed them to be safe, so the workers are returning at those sites,” commission spokesperson Paul Graham said April 3.
That included the commission’s offices at the port and major terminals operated by United Grain Growers, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and James Richardson International.
Graham acknowledged there has been a lot of anxiety in the workplace, and said the commission is prepared to work with the union in areas like crisis intervention counseling, harassment awareness workshops and setting up a task force to deal with safety issues.
Monteith-Farrell said those were “vague promises,” adding the employees don’t trust the commission to follow through.
For prairie farmers, the good news is that grain movement through the port was unaffected by the job action, say officials with the commission and the Canadian Wheat Board.
Managers and other non-union employees from across the country were brought in to carry out the weighing and inspection functions normally performed by the unionized staff.
Wheat board spokesperson Jim Pietryk said 1,437 rail cars were unloaded at the port last week, just below the target of 1,500. He added that the first week for shipping at the port helped to minimize the impact of the walkout.
Monteith-Farrell said the “last straw,” which triggered the walkout, was a four-week suspension of Dave Lewicki, a grain inspector and union official who has been an outspoken public critic of the grain commission’s policies and programs.
Neither side would discuss any of the specifics of Lewicki’s suspension, describing it as an internal personnel matter, subject to grievance procedures under the union’s collective agreement. Lewicki could not be reached for comment.
The National Farmers Union issued a press release condemning the commission for its suspension of Lewicki, and sent a letter to agriculture Lyle Vanclief asking him to intervene.
NFU board member Stewart Wells said Lewicki has been fighting for a strong and effective commission that protects farmers’ interests.
“Mr. Lewicki did what he thought was right, regardless of the consequences to his career,” said Wells. “The CGC must not be allowed to bully, silence or fire him.”
