Special crops will soon start piling up on Saskatchewan farms if the truckers’ strike at Vancouver isn’t settled right away, the Canadian Special Crops Association has warned.
The association issued a warning last week that even if truckers return to the job immediately, it would take nine weeks to eliminate the backlog and congestion that has developed at the busy container port.
“Coupled with the fact that harvest will start in Saskatchewan, off-farm movement will be at a standstill,” executive director Francois Catellier said in a July 20 News release
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Approximately 1,000 truckers who haul loaded containers from stuffing facilities to export terminals, have been on strike since June 28 in a dispute over money and scheduling issues.
No end was in sight to the strike as of July 25.
About 40 percent of Canada’s special crops are exported in containers, most of which are shipped to the port in bulk and stuffed.
Catellier said switching to other export outlets, as some other commodity shippers have done, would squeeze margins in an already depressed market.
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The association has asked the railways to drop demurrage charges for rail cars stranded due to the strike. Canadian National Railway has offered to waive 50 percent of the charge. No response had been received from Canadian Pacific Railway as of last week.
“The time is overdue for the governments of British Columbia and Canada to put an end to this work stoppage,” said Catellier.
