Workers walk a picket line at the Viterra Cascadia Terminal, one of several Port of Vancouver terminals, in Vancouver on Sept. 24.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
Ships are being forced to stay at anchor after a strike that began this week at six Vancouver grain terminals created bottlenecks in the supply chain from the Prairies to the West Coast.
There were 19 vessels waiting to load grain at the Port of Vancouver on Wednesday during what would normally be a busy autumn for exports. But instead of ships being assigned berths when they become vacant, the supply chain for grain is congested.
Port officials have asked ships en route to the West Coast to change to “slow steaming,” meaning to significantly reduce their pace of ocean travel whenever possible.
About 650 members of the Grain Workers Union Local 333 went on strike on Tuesday, after an impasse at the bargaining table with the Vancouver Terminal Elevators’ Association.
Sylvain Charlebois, a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, said the bulk grain delays in Western Canada are part of what could be a disruptive autumn for North American logistics, including potential strikes at the Port of Montreal and cargo terminals in the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast.
“Even without a strike, the uncertainty is quite painful for companies that are trying to plan ahead,” Mr. Charlebois said in an interview on Wednesday from Halifax.
Members of the Grain Workers Union Local 333 walked off the job on Sept. 24, disrupting exports of everything from canola and wheat to barley and oats. Negotiations broke down on Friday between the GWU and the Vancouver Terminal Elevators' Association.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
The strike by grain terminal workers follows shutdowns at Canada’s two largest railways that temporarily disrupted a wide range of freight deliveries for several days in August.
The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission and other agricultural groups are urging federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to intervene during the busy harvest season.
“If grain companies are unable to ship grain to terminal elevators, in-country elevators will inevitably fill up, which will impact farmers’ ability to deliver grain,” Saskatchewan Wheat chair Jake Leguee said in a letter to Mr. MacKinnon.
Delays in exports of everything from canola and wheat to barley and oats from the six terminals could add up to $35-million a day, the Grain Growers of Canada said.
Employers at the six grain elevators along Burrard Inlet’s north and south shores said progress has been made on wages, but that there remain disagreements with the union over scheduling and benefits.
Wages vary depending on the job classification. An electrical technologist currently makes $48.80 an hour, for example, while a janitor earns $42.80 an hour. The employers have offered a four-year contact, with wage increases of 5 per cent in the first year, followed by annual hikes of 4 per cent, 4 per cent and 3 per cent.
The previous five-year collective agreement expired on Dec. 31, 2023.
One of the disagreements focuses on employers saying they are seeking flexibility to scale back the scheduling of workers on statutory holidays during slow periods in the spring and summer. But union leaders want to maintain the system of mandatory scheduling that allows for employees to earn double-time rates during shifts on statutory holidays.
After bargaining talks broke off late last week, the two sides in the dispute met on Wednesday in an effort to find common ground with the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
“Like any collective bargaining situation, we’re hoping for a positive outcome,” Mr. MacKinnon said in Ottawa.
Fraser Surrey Grain Terminal Ltd. at the Port of Vancouver and Prince Rupert Grain Ltd. in northwest B.C. have continued operating this week because workers there have different collective agreements and are not on strike.
Local 333 is a chartered local of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada.
Meanwhile, Local 514 of the ILWU, representing about 730 ship and dock forepersons, is awaiting a ruling from the Canada Industrial Relations Board. In May, the BC Maritime Employers Association filed a complaint with the labour board, alleging bad-faith bargaining on the part of the local.
Members of the local are supervisors of the ILWU’s rank-and-file workers who went on strike in July, 2023, at B.C. ports. Those employees staged a 13-day strike, returned for several days to their posts and then walked out again for one more day.
Earlier this month, the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed the labour board’s decision that declared the one-day walkout to be illegal, noting the union did not issue the required 72-hour strike notice.