Rail cars are seen on the tracks outside the Viterra Cascadia Terminal that handles grain exports, during a strike by International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada workers in the province, in Vancouver on July 12, 2023.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The union representing workers at six Vancouver grain terminals has issued strike notice to take effect on Tuesday, during the peak autumn period for handling commodities such as canola.
Local 333 of the Grain Workers Union (GWU) said it gave 72-hour strike notice on Saturday to the group of employers represented by the Vancouver Terminal Elevators’ Association (VTEA).
“The union’s bargaining committee came to the decision to issue strike notice after the VTEA invested very little effort in negotiations last week,” union leaders told members in a memorandum. “It is the VTEA’s move.”
Bargaining talks have broken off, said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association, which represents large shippers of bulk grain exports from Western Canada.
“While the parties have made progress on direct wages, they remain far apart on the substantive benefit issues,” he said in a message sent on Saturday night to grain companies and industry stakeholders. “The VTEA has been trying to engage the GWU in substantive negotiations since November of 2023.”
The dispute affects about 650 unionized employees at the operations of Cargill Inc., Richardson International Ltd., Alliance Grain Terminal Ltd., Pacific Elevators Ltd., G3 Terminal and Cascadia Terminal. Cascadia is co-owned by Viterra Ltd. and Richardson International.
Local 333 is a chartered local of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU), with workers handling grain such as canola, wheat, barley, oats and specialty crops.
During a two-week strike in the summer of 2023 by other ILWU members in B.C., bulk grain shipments continued being exported overseas, in accordance with the Canada Labour Code. Under the code, grain is deemed essential for loading ships through stevedoring companies at docks, but it doesn’t apply to workers at the grain terminals themselves, Mr. Sobkowich said.
The essential service designation for grain exports also doesn’t apply to rail operations, as evidenced by the brief railway shutdown that temporarily disrupted grain deliveries for several days in August.
The dispute between the Grain Workers Union and employers would have significant impact during the busy harvest season, including for canola, a commodity that has been caught up in the trade battle between Canada and China.
Last month, the federal government announced a 100-per-cent surtax on imports of Chinese electric vehicles into Canada, effective Oct. 1. China retaliated earlier this month by starting an anti-dumping investigation into canola shipped from Canada.
“Grain handlers and exporters are working with Chinese importers to move as many canola vessels as possible into China, given the investigation and associated outcome,” Mr. Sobkowich said in a separate message.
Barring a late resolution, a strike by workers at the six Vancouver grain terminals would start at 7 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday.
The labour unrest at grain terminals comes as Local 514 of the ILWU, representing about 730 ship and dock forepersons, awaits a ruling from the Canada Industrial Relations Board amid an impasse in collective bargaining. In May, the BC Maritime Employers Association filed a complaint with the labour board, alleging bad-faith bargaining on the part of the union.
Members of Local 514 are supervisors of the ILWU’s rank-and-file workers who went on strike last year.
The union said its members are concerned about semi-automation at DP World Canada’s Centerm container terminal at the Port of Vancouver.
Unionized supervisors who cast ballots in August voted 96 per cent in favour of a strike mandate, based on a turnout of 76 per cent of eligible voters. So far, the local has not issued notice to go on strike and the BC Maritime Employers Association, representing 49 private-sector companies such as shipowners and terminal operators, has not issued notice of any lockout.