Union officials from Vancouver are reviewing the possibility of job action at the port to support striking Viterra employees.
Bob Ashton, vice-president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada, was one of three senior ILWU officials who joined picketing members of the Grain Services Union outside Viterra’s head office in Regina last week.
He told the workers the ILWU officials would report back to members in Vancouver about possible support actions.
The two unions are affiliated.
GSU general secretary Hugh Wagner said in an interview that the ILWU could refuse to handle grain shipped by Viterra if the GSU declare a “hot cargo.”
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That would likely happen only if GSU’s country elevator employees walked off the job and Viterra continued to ship grain. So far country employees are working-to-rule.
Viterra says neither the strike by head office employees nor the work to rule campaign in the country has disrupted the company’s operations.
Meanwhile, the Canada Industrial Relations Board is considering a GSU application that the board declare Viterra has bargained in bad faith and declare illegal the “rotating lockout” employed by the company against country operations and maintenance employees.
Wagner said the company missed its July 24 deadline to respond to the application, so the union asked the board to rule solely on the union submission.
However, a Viterra spokesperson said the company had a “verbal agreement” with the labour board to file its response on July 28.
“We believe the CLRB will take Viterra’s submission into account in resolving this issue,” she said.
The main issues in the strike include company proposals for a performance-based pay system and to take sole control of the employees’ benefit package, which is jointly administered, along with hours of work and days off and seniority rights.
The two sides have been without a contract since Jan. 31.
Some employees at the Western Producer are members of a different local of the GSU.
