UPDATED: Grain Workers’ Union issues strike notice, workers walk off job

The Grain Workers’ Union (GWU) Local 333 issued a 72-hour strike notice to the Vancouver Terminal Elevator Association (VTEA) and federal minister of labour Sept. 21, with workers walking off the job the morning of Sept. 24.

The GWU’s bargaining committee said the strike notice was in response to the VTEA investing “very little effort in negotiations last week.”

In a statement on its Facebook page Sept. 23, the union said VTEA employers “unlawfully” negotiated directly with membership of the Local 333 instead of with the elected bargaining committee, which GWU said constitutes an unfair labour practice under the Canadian Labour Code.

The Retail Council of Canada (RCC) issued a statement saying that six major terminals at the Port of Vancouver—including Alliance Grain Terminal, Cargill Terminal, Cascadia, G3 Terminal, Pacific Elevators and Richardson International—will be impacted by strike action.

“Although this strike primarily impacts bulk grain, other grain terminals like Fraser Grain Terminal remain unaffected for now,” read the statement. “RCC is actively engaged in efforts to resolve this strike and prevent future disruptions.”

Meeting with the VTEA Sept. 16 and 17, GWU said it spent “most of the time correcting the errors VTEA had made to already agreed to terms.”

“VTEA then took 36 hours to respond to the union’s proposal with a bare-bones document on Sept. 19 that continued to insist on changing lieu day entitlements,” a statement read.

GWU said it responded with a package on the same day, but received no counter-proposal from the VTEA.

The Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) released a statement saying it is deeply concerned with the impending GWU Local 333 strike at the Port of Vancouver, which would stop all shipments of bulk grain.

“Grain farmers in the Prairies rely heavily on the Port of Vancouver to handle and export the majority of the grain they grow. In fact, last year, terminal elevators at the Port of Vancouver received roughly 52 per cent of all grain produced from across Canada, underscoring the critical role these terminals play in our agricultural supply chain,” read the statement. “Following last month’s rail work stoppages, this strike will have an equally devastating impact on grain farmers across the Prairies who are in the midst of harvest. Data from the Canadian Grain Commission indicates that this work stoppage will halt nearly 100,000 metric tonnes of grain arriving at these terminals per day, resulting in a loss of $35 million in potential exports daily.”

GGC said it is calling on the federal government and Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon to use all tools available to ensure parties reach an agreement before a work stoppage occurs, and that without intervention, Canada’s international trading reputation will continue to suffer, leading to the loss of key global markets and customers.