SASKATOON – An agreement to work weekends at West Coast grain terminals is being described by some grain handling officials as a public relations exercise that will do little to boost grain movement.
Labor and management officials interviewed last week say there are barely enough rail cars arriving at the terminals to keep the work force busy for four or five days, let alone seven.
However the Grain Transportation Agency says that is about to change. With weekend work now being scheduled, more cars will be sent to Vancouver and Prince Rupert, says the agency, and the terminals will be busy seven days.
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Nevertheless, some officials at the port say the agreement, which was reached after considerable prodding by the federal government, is designed mainly to appease unhappy foreign customers who felt the lack of weekend work was holding up grain shipments.
“All the parties are trying to satisfy the overseas image issue,” said a senior manager at one of the West Coast terminals who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Lack of cars available
He said the lack of overtime has not been the limiting factor in grain exports: “The problem is one of lack of car supply. If we got a steady flow of cars five days a week, we would not need weekend work.”
On several occasions in recent weeks individual terminals have run out of grain cars during the week, yet they’re being pressured to put on weekend shifts, he said, adding: “I don’t think my plant should have to work premium time when I’ve got regular down-time during the week.”
Henry Kancs of the Grain Workers Union said the premise behind working weekends seems to be that “we have to prove that none of us are guilty.” Workers were volunteering to work through the holiday weekend but there wouldn’t be enough cars to keep them busy.
“These people are told we have to work overtime, but for what?” he said. “To sweep the elevator? We can sweep the elevator from Monday to Friday.”
Gerry Skura, general manager of Pioneer Grain Co.’s terminal division, said the weekend work issue can’t be looked at in isolation from all the other factors affecting grain movement. It’s true that terminals have been running out of cars during the five-day week, but “obviously on some weekends it would have helped, especially after the longshoremen’s strike.”
Bruce McFadden of the GTA said that while it may be true that there haven’t been enough rail cars arriving at the West Coast in recent months to justify weekend work, that’s about to change.
Because the car allocation agency knew the terminals were operating on a five-day week, the number of cars shipped out of the country to the West Coast was cut back accordingly. There was no point creating a rail car backlog at the West Coast when cars were needed for movement to Thunder Bay or other destinations.
Now with the new overtime agreement in place, more cars will be shipped west, McFadden said. For example, in the last week of May, 5,800 cars have been allocated to the West Coast, up from the recent average of around 4,300 cars.
The agreement to work weekends at overtime rates of pay does not represent a final settlement of the contentious issue, which is the subject of ongoing contract negotiations. The companies want weekend work at regular pay rates.
