Container loads of beef, pork and special crops are once again moving through ports on Canada’s West Coast.
A lockout of 2,000 longshoremen that began Nov. 7 came to an end Nov. 15 when the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union Local 500 and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association accepted a mediated settlement.
At press time Nov. 15, the union membership had not voted on the deal, but the ILWU negotiating committee was unanimously recommending that its members accept the package.
The settlement was reached with the assistance of a federal mediator under the threat of back-to-work legislation.
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The lockout forced exporters of perishable products like chilled beef and pork to reroute shipments through ports on the west coast of the United States, increasing the transportation bill for getting those products to market by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Shippers of special crops and dehydrated hay say their losses associated with the one-week lockout amounted to millions of dollars in lost sales. Rerouting product to U.S. ports was not an option for many special crops exporters whose margins are tight.
But the real concern for exporters of agricultural commodities is the lasting impression left with Asian customers that Canada is an unreliable shipper. Canada’s reputation as a dependable exporter has been tarnished and shippers fear competitors in the U.S., Australia and the European Union will be all too willing to remind Asian buyers about Canada’s history of transportation problems.
In a letter to Claudette Bradshaw, federal minister of labor, the Canadian Special Crops Association had this to say:
“The long-term impact of a lockout during this key time will mean lost sales for our industry for many years to come.”
During the lockout Cargill has been diverting shipments of beef through the port of Seattle in an effort to pacify Asian customers that the company has been courting in recent years.
“It’s not just a question of losing sales, it’s losing market share, period. These people are not coming back,” said government relations manager Jamie Dolynchuk.
Bulk grain shipments were exempt from the lockout because they are protected from third-party labor disruptions by last year’s revisions to the Canada Labor Code.
Special crops and meat exporters and at least one opposition MP are now calling on the federal Liberals to extend that exemption to other agricultural commodities.
“During the debate over revisions to Canada’s labor laws, Reform proposed … that the exemption for grain be extended to all commodities. The Liberals refused to listen,” said Howard Hilstrom, chief agriculture critic for the Reform party, in a news release.
“Because of the Liberals’ failure, farmers in Western Canada have been cut off from their markets for the second time in less than a year.”
Cam Daniels, vice-president of the Canadian Beef Export Federation, said Asian customers expect timely deliveries and when Canadian suppliers can’t deliver they will look elsewhere.
“The federation and our members feel that we should be given the same rights or treated the same as the grain industry.”
Garry Benoit, executive director of the Canadian Dehydrators Association, said his industry is as export dependent as it gets.
About 85 percent of what his members produce is shipped to Asia – $130 million worth of bales, cubes and pellets.
“There seems to be always something that’s disrupting our shipments and we just want to see the end to that sort of thing.”
Hilstrom said work stoppages on the West Coast are too costly and further legislation is required to assuage the concerns of overseas customers.
