Three organizations representing rural municipalities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are calling on Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to use binding arbitration “if the railways and union are unable to reach an agreement prior to Thursday, when labour disruptions would begin.”
That’s despite MacKinnon already rejecting CN Rail’s request for binding arbitration and has said prior to let the major freight rail companies and the union representing about 9,300 of its workers negotiate an agreement themselves.
The Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM), and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM), add “even a short-term work stoppage will have massive impacts on the agriculture sector, which already struggles to access rail cars to move harvests to market.”
Acting President of SARM Bill Huber says the “livelihoods of thousands of producers are at risk” if CPKC and CN Rail are not moving, adding if MacKinnon doesn’t step in, “he and his government must be willing to live with the economic and social consequences the decision will bring across the Prairies.”
RMA President Paul McLauchlin says this is “not simply a labour issue” but rather an issue of economic development, community sustainability, and food security. While McLauchlin acknowledge’s MacKinnon’s position on the issue, he said “not stepping in to protect rural livelihoods and communities will escalate this from a labour dispute into a situation that puts entire rural communities and industries at risk.”
AMM President Kam Blight describes agriculture as a “sophisticated, complex, and internationally connected industry based on a complex worldwide supply chain” and “when one of the first ‘links’ in that chain is compromised, as would be the case if a rail work stoppage occurs, the impacts are widespread, in Manitoba, Canada and across the world.”
The Western Wheat Growers Association is another group with a similar tone towards Ottawa and its handling of the ongoing labour dispute. They were disappointed MacKinnon chose not to utilize binding arbitration, despite numerous conversations with the Minister in the past.
They also took aim at Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay for being inactive on the issue.
“It is shocking that the Minister of Labour will not use the tools available to him, including Sec 107 of the Labour Act, to thwart the pending rail strike. It is unprecedented in recent memory, that both railways will be shutdown simultaneously. This government is failing all Canadians, rather than prioritizing our national economy,” stated Gunter Jochum, President in a news release. The Wheat Growers claim there have been more than 12 strikes in the past 14 years. Jochum also says if a full strike go ahead, “it will take weeks to bring the system back up to speed once a strike is over,”
The farm group also note the pending strike or lockout comes as harvest is starting across Canada and that “grain elevators and terminals require the steady movement of grain” to meet export commitments. They also point to numbers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to show the importance of ag to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product, as the sector contributed $150 billion, or seven per cent to the GDP, in 2023.