Unifor, which represents about 360 Seaway workers across five locals in the two provinces, announced Thursday its members had voted to ratify a three-year agreement retroactive to April 1.

The maintenance, operations and clerical group of employees voted 85 per cent in favour, and the supervisory group 87 per cent in favour, of the agreement reached Oct. 29, Unifor said in a release.

The agreement provides for annual wage increases of five, four and four per cent plus a $2,000 signing bonus, the union said.

The successful ratification vote follows a strike that ran Oct. 22-30 and halted grain shipments and all other freight traffic on the waterway.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., the not-for-profit organization in charge of Canadian seaway operations, said seaway staff and “marine industry partners” had worked since navigation restarted on the morning of Oct. 30 to clear a backlog of waiting vessels and the re-opening plan was “fully implemented” by Nov. 1.

The SLSMC said Thursday it would “continue to take measures to maximize the movement of vessels carrying essential cargo along the Seaway” in coming weeks, leading up to the end of the navigation season.

Expected closing dates for the 2023 season haven’t yet been announced. For its 2022 season, the Seaway closed on Jan. 1, 2023 on its Montreal-Lake Ontario section and Jan. 9, 2023 on the Welland Canal; both sections reopened for the 2023 season on March 22. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post Seaway workers ratify labour deal appeared first on Country Guide.

Olymel and the CSN-affiliated Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) announced Tuesday afternoon that unionized workers at the company’s Vallee-Jonction plant, south of Quebec City, have voted to ratify an agreement-in-principle reached Sunday between company and union brass.

The STOVJ said in a release its members voted 78 per cent in favour of the deal Tuesday, casting secret ballots electronically. The vote ends a strike that’s run since April 28 and ratifies a new collective agreement that runs to March 2027, Olymel said.

The new agreement calls for salary increases of about 26.4 per cent, including a 10 per cent increase in the first year, averaging out to a 4.4 per cent increase for each of the next six years, STOVJ president Martin Maurice said in the union’s release.

The deal also provides for a lump-sum payment of $65 per year of service per member and a 50 per cent increase in Olymel’s contribution to group insurance for family coverage, he said.

“The result of the vote shows us that our members are satisfied with the gains we have obtained,” he said.

The new agreement, however, was also mediated under a deadline set by Olymel, in which the company said it would scrap the Vallee-Jonction plant’s evening shift by the end of the year if unionized employees didn’t reconsider their rejection of an earlier agreement-in-principle by Sunday night.

Cancelling the evening shift would have meant layoffs for about half of the 1,050-odd unionized employees at Vallee-Jonction.

“Under these circumstances and in the context of a rapid resumption of operations, Olymel’s management (has) decided to maintain the evening shift at this plant and to renounce (the shift’s) abolition as previously announced in the event that the strike could have gone on longer,” the company said Tuesday.

Alexandre Laviolette, president of the Federation du commerce-CSN, hailed the deal’s outcome as the result of an ongoing struggle by all slaughterhouse workers in the province for “wages that recognize their hard work.”

As a result, he said, “the table is therefore set for current and future negotiations in the slaughter sector.”

‘Highly competitive’

The deal means “working conditions and employee compensation will thus be improved, while maintaining the company’s ability to operate in a highly competitive market,” Olymel first vice-president Paul Beauchamp said in Tuesday’s release.

That said, “such a long strike is still to be deplored and lessons will have to be learned,” and management “will do everything in its power to ensure that plant operations resume in a calm and constructive atmosphere.”

Beauchamp also called attention to “the great resilience of the pork producers heavily affected by this conflict.”

The Vallee-Jonction plant has capacity to slaughter about 35,000 head per week. With that plant offline, Quebec hog producers worked with the company to move some market-weight animals to slaughter in other provinces — in some cases as far west as Olymel’s plant at Red Deer, Alta. — and to sell younger piglets and weanlings to free up barn space.

Despite those moves, however, Rene Roy, president of les Eleveurs de porcs de la Beauce, estimated in an interview that the resulting backlog of market-weight hogs in barns in the province was slightly above 170,000 head and counting as of Monday afternoon.

Keeping heavier-weight hogs in barns over the hot summer months means having to manage the temperatures in those buildings, along with the number of hogs per pen, he said.

Olymel said the Vallee-Jonction plant “should gradually regain its weekly slaughter capacity” and it “should resume winning over and serving clients accustomed to quality products from this facility,” noting “the resumption of activities should gradually reduce the pressure on hog producers.”

Before that, though, the company must ensure equipment is in working order, the plant is “sanitary” and workers are available to form teams for day and evening shifts, Olymel said.

Employees were expected to be recalled to work starting Tuesday night and resumption of operations “should therefore extend over a few days.” Thus, “in the best scenario,” the plant could resume slaughter work “as early as Friday.”

Provincial Labour Minister Jean Boulet, whose department provided conciliation teams to help resolve the dispute — and who appointed a special mediator, Jean Poirier, after Olymel issued its layoff ultimatum — hailed the outcome of the vote on Twitter, reiterating Tuesday that a “blitz of mediation” over the weekend had “borne fruit.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post Striking Olymel workers accept new six-year deal appeared first on Country Guide.

A “detailed ratification package” has gone out to members of the Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA), Canadian Seed Institute (CSI), Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA), Canadian Plant Technology Agency (CPTA) and Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada (CSAAC).

The new organization, if ratified, “will bring together these organizations for greater efficiency and a common purpose: a stronger, united voice for Canada’s seed sector,” the groups said in a release Friday.

The ratification package going to members of the five groups will include details about the amalgamation and the proposed bylaws, finances and governance structure for Seeds Canada.

Webinars, member meetings and other communications will take place “in the coming weeks and months” and voting will take place “over the summer.” Members in good standing with more than one of the organizations will be eligible to cast votes with each of those groups.

If one or more of the member organizations doesn’t ratify the plan, the remaining groups “may proceed to amalgamate on their own” — or may choose not to proceed, they said.

The proposal dates back to a 2015 brief from the CSGA and CSTA, followed by a 2017 “green paper” on the “core ideas and context for the next-generation seed system.”

A 2018 white paper from the organizations pointed out that, among other issues facing the seeds sector, the groups have “overlapping memberships and even directors, creating a significant draw on member time and resources.”

CSGA is the largest of the five groups, representing pedigreed seed producers, with a membership made up mainly of farmers. It also has statutory power to certify pedigreed seed.

CSTA represents the seed trade, including some farmer-level seed growers and major seed companies, while CSAAC represents seed-testing labs.

CSI delivers accreditation and monitoring programs and CPTA supports intellectual property protection for the seeds sector.

CropLife Canada, representing life science companies making and selling new varieties and crop protection products, had originally been part of the proposed group but has since opted out and would co-operate with the new group, if formed, by way of a memorandum of understanding.

The current proposal would see Seeds Canada offer “over 36 essential services” to members and clients, including all original services offered by the five founding groups, through a new “single window” model.

The membership model would be voluntary, with voting privileges going to “seed industry business class” members — business entities, including sole proprietors — who grow, breed, condition, test, inspect, develop, trade/sell and/or distribute seed and/or seed crops.

Branch organizations, such as the provincial seed organizations now affiliated with the CSGA, would continue to operate as “autonomous entities.”

Seeds Canada would not have control or any role in such branches’ governance, membership, staff, assets, finances activities or initiatives, but would “continue to honour collection and remittance of fees.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network, with files from Allan Dawson of the Manitoba Co-operator.

The post National seeds sector groups put merger plan to vote appeared first on Country Guide.

Canada was the last of the three signatories to formally adopt the pact, prompting congratulations from the United States and Mexico.

The House of Commons lower chamber, which had weeks of deliberations left, agreed the instant approval on Friday after opposition legislators dropped their objections. The upper Senate chamber backed the pact later in the day, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters.

“(This) was entirely within the power of Canadian legislators to do, something we were able to do to help the Canadian economy at this challenging time, and I would like to thank legislators from all parties,” she said.

Governor General Julie Payette — as representative of Queen Elizabeth, Canada’s head of state — formalized the implementation bill with royal assent later Friday. The Commons agreed Friday to adjourn until April 20.

CUSMA was designed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which U.S. President Donald Trump strongly opposed on the grounds it had cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

“Now that the USMCA has been approved by all three countries, an historic new chapter for North American trade has begun,” U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement, referring to the same pact by a re-ordered name.

In a letter to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, Lighthizer sent notice of an in-force date of June 1 for CUSMA, according to a spokesman for the Senate finance committee, which oversees tax and trade issues.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the approval was good news for Mexico at a time of economic and financial instability.

“With the Parliamentary suspension due to the spread of COVID-19, Canadian beef producers are grateful to all Parliamentarians for working together” to pass the bill, Bob Lowe, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, said in a statement Friday.

The CCA noted the bill continues “reciprocal duty-free trade” between the signing countries and includes a section “highlighting the commitment to not disrupt trade through labelling” — a reference to mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) legislation which the United States put in place in 2009 and scrapped in 2015 under threat of retaliatory tariffs.

Apart from continued tariff-free access for many ag exports, the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) on Friday also noted CUSMA provides for “meaningful progress on regulatory alignment and co-operation” and continued “fair and transparent dispute resolution provisions.”

CUSMA also provides for improved market access by way of increased quotas for refined sugar and sugar-containing products, as well as gains for some oilseed products, CAFTA said.

— Reporting for Reuters by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

The post Parliament hustles through CUSMA ratification appeared first on Country Guide.

The affected employees, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, voted 91.3 per cent to ratify a three-year contract with CN, retroactive to last July 23, the union said in a release Friday.

The agreement on which employees voted had been reached Nov. 26, wrapping up an eight-day strike by about 3,200 affected employees.

The strike “severely impact(ed) the Canadian economy,” CN said Friday. The company on Tuesday noted the dispute also contributed to a six per cent dent in CN’s fourth-quarter gross revenue compared to the year-earlier period.

This specific work stoppage also had the unusual effect of angering farmers clear across the country. Growers in Eastern Canada found themselves in need of on-time propane deliveries by rail in November to dry down the fall harvest.

Prairie growers, generally captive customers of Canada’s big two railways when moving grain to port, typically face costs in any rail labour disruption — but also needed to fire up their grain dryers this fall against late harvests.

“We did not get everything we wanted, but we still succeeded in reaching a fair agreement which will keep the trains running while improving rail safety,” Teamsters Canada national president Francois Laporte said in a release Friday.

The new agreement binds CN to waive what the TCRC called a “work-now-grieve-later” policy, which the union said had compelled employees to keep working when they seek to book rest and be relieved. The deal also provides for extra compensation for affected staff who are still on the job 30 and 60 minutes into their rest periods.

The deal, which runs to July 22, 2022, also “clarif(ies) when workers are on paid time” by defining shifts as starting and ending at an employee’s specific locker facility. CN had previously counted trips to employee locker facilities as off-duty time, the union said.

TCRC president Lyndon Isaak, in the union’s release Friday, said “the core problem of fatigue in the rail industry can only be resolved through government regulations… The issue of fatigue is still far from resolved.”

The TCRC said the deal also includes an “industry-standard” eight per cent wage increase over the course of the agreement and a taxable $1,000 ratification bonus. The agreement also increases an employee’s lifetime health benefits cap to $75,000, up $15,000.

“Unless the federal government implements a universal pharmacare program, this issue will likely come up again in the next round of bargaining,” the union said.

Calls from various affected industries for federal back-to-work legislation went unanswered during the November strike, which also led to protests by farmers.

“Ottawa used to routinely violate workers’ right to strike in the rail sector,” Laporte said in Friday’s release, praising the current government for having “remained calm and focused on helping parties reach an agreement.”

For CN’s part, “we are pleased to have completed these agreements,” CEO JJ Ruest said in a separate release. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post CN conductors approve post-strike deal appeared first on Country Guide.

Trump, on trial in the U.S. Senate on charges of abusing power and obstructing Congress, welcomed Republican senators at the South Lawn event by name. Other guests included lawmakers from around the country, workers, farmers and CEOs, and officials from Mexico and Canada, the White House said.

The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) will replace the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, including tougher rules on labour and automotive content but leaving US$1.2 trillion in annual U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade flows largely unchanged.

“Today, we are finally ending the NAFTA nightmare and signing into law the brand-new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” Trump told the crowd. Flanked by a group of U.S. workers wearing hard hats, Trump said the agreement would bolster U.S. economic growth, benefiting farmers, workers and manufacturers.

He said his concerns about NAFTA triggered outsourcing had triggered his run for the presidency in 2016.

A wide array of business groups welcomed the agreement, which also won a rare endorsement of the AFL-CIO union federation. Mexico has already approved the deal, but it must still be ratified by Canada’s Parliament before it can take effect.

The influential United Autoworkers said the new deal would not restore hundreds of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs lost to Mexico after NAFTA, and vowed to be aggressive in pushing for enforcement of the trade agreement’s provisions.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator who voted against the pact earlier this month, said the NAFTA replacement deal would not stop the offshoring of U.S. jobs and amounted to “a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry.” He said he would immediately renegotiate the pact if elected.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking in Ottawa, said his minority government would continue to answer questions posed by various industries and other groups.

“We have questions and we have a process for ratification. I just look forward to getting, getting through it responsibly and rapidly because it’s so important for Canadians,” he said.

No Democrats

Excluded from the event were House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House ways and means committee chairman Richard Neal and other Democrats who negotiated with the Trump administration for months to expand the pact’s labour, environmental and enforcement provisions and pave the way for its approval by the Democratic-controlled House.

Trump did not mention the work done by Pelosi or other Democrats on the trade pact, but U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in his remarks at the ceremony, acknowledged the role that House leaders played in getting the deal done.

Partisan tensions were running high as U.S. senators started to pose questions in Trump’s impeachment trial, ahead of a key vote later this week on whether to allow the calling of witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton.

The White House on Wednesday objected to the publication of a book written by Bolton that depicts Trump as playing a central role in a pressure campaign on Ukraine to launch investigations of Democrats, including former Vice-President Joe Biden, a top contender for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in this year’s election.

Pelosi told reporters that Democrats had ensured “vast improvements” to CUSMA before it was approved, despite their absence from Trump’s White House event, adding, “I hope he understands what he’s signing today.”

Neal told reporters some Republican senators thought the deal was “too Democratic.” He said the final accord won stronger protections for workers, better enforcement of environmental provisions and steps to prevent higher drug prices.

Representative Rosa DeLauro told reporters in a separate teleconference that Democrats would remain vigilant on oversight of the improved trade deal and would fight for even better climate protections in future trade deals.

The U.S. Senate this month overwhelmingly approved legislation to implement CUSMA, sending the measure to Trump for signing into law.

‘Long-term predictability’

U.S. lawmakers said it was unclear when the accord would take effect, since Canada’s main opposition Conservative Party had expressed concerns about aspects of the deal and there was no exact timeline for ratification there.

Even after Canada ratifies the accord, implementation could take several more months since the three countries must show they are meeting their obligations before the clock starts ticking on an effective date.

Export-minded Canadian farm groups were among those calling this week for the deal’s quick passage through Canada’s House of Commons and Senate.

“After three years of uncertainty, it’s time to restore long-term predictability to North American supply chains,” the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance said Wednesday in a joint statement with other Canadian business organizations.

“The success of Canadian agriculture is not a partisan issue,” Grain Growers of Canada chair Jeff Nielsen, an Alberta grain grower, said Monday in a separate release. “We urge all parties to work together to see the legislation through.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Andrea Shalal and Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Susan Heavey, David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

The post Trump signs CUSMA pact appeared first on Country Guide.

Canada is the only one of the three signatories not to have formally blessed the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) deal and officials fret the process may well last until April. This could irritate U.S. President Donald Trump, for whom the pact was a major political victory in an U.S. election year.

Trudeau said his minority Liberal government would unveil legislation on Jan. 29 to ratify CUSMA, which will update the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“We are going to make sure we move forward in the right way and that means ratifying this new NAFTA as quickly as possible,” Trudeau said while flanked by members of his cabinet following a three-day retreat in Winnipeg.

Free trade is critical to the economies of Canada and Mexico, which both send around 75 per cent of goods to their much larger neighbor.

The Liberals though no longer control the House of Commons and passing legislation requires the co-operation of other parties, which can, if they wish, slow down the process.

The main opposition Conservative Party, which complained the Liberals had not answered earlier questions about CUSMA, said it wanted to examine what it called potentially worrying aspects of the deal.

“We definitely want to give it the proper due diligence to shine a light on some of the unique (aspects),” said Randy Hoback, the party’s spokesman on trade, expressing concern about possible damage to the dairy and aluminum sectors.

“I don’t think anybody has any intention of dragging anything out. We just want to make sure we do our job… there are some things in this deal that I think the business community isn’t aware of that we need to shine a light on,” he said in a phone interview.

CUSMA, which includes tougher rules on labour and automotive content, cannot take effect until it has been ratified by all three member nations.

Last week, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved the legislation sending the measure to Trump for him to sign into law.

Trump made the renegotiation of NAFTA a key element of his 2016 presidential election campaign, calling it the “worst trade deal ever made.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Steve Scherer and Kelsey Johnson; writing by David Ljunggren in Ottawa.

The post Trudeau wants CUSMA deal ratified quickly appeared first on Country Guide.

Trudeau’s Liberal government said from the start it wanted to work in tandem with Washington to formally approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (CUSMA), which was signed last year.

The United States, Mexico and Canada agreed last week to revised terms for CUSMA to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

Mexico has already ratified the deal and the U.S. House of Representatives will consider legislation on Thursday to implement the pact, a senior Democrat said. The House ways and means committee approved the revised pact by voice vote on Tuesday,

Canadian legislators, however, are not due back from a winter break until Jan. 27. The Liberals lost their majority in an October election and must work more closely with opposition parties to push through legislation.

“We might — because of our parliamentary calendar — be the last parties to ratify, so we’re going to have to try to get to it as quickly as we can,” Trudeau told Toronto’s Citytv.

Trudeau said he was reasonably confident his government would find enough votes to approve the treaty.

Eleanore Catenaro, a spokeswoman for Trudeau, said Ottawa still wanted to work with the United States as much as possible on ratification. She declined to say whether Trudeau might call lawmakers back to work ahead of schedule in January.

Canada’s two main opposition parties suggested last week they could move to delay ratification, accusing the Liberal government of botching revisions to the treaty.

— Reporting for Reuters by David Ljunggren and David Lawder.

The post Canada could be last to ratify CUSMA deal, Trudeau says appeared first on Country Guide.

Officials are trying to agree on a series of tweaks to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (CUSMA) to overcome concerns that provisions aimed at ensuring Mexico lives up to commitments on labour reforms are not strong enough.

“There is still a little more work to do,” Trudeau said ahead of a meeting with Mexican deputy foreign minister Jesus Seade. “Canada is extremely supportive of Mexico’s steps towards labour reforms.”

Seade, the Mexican official in charge of CUSMA negotiations, was due to hold talks on Friday with Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Seade said on Wednesday that adjustments could be made to how labour disputes are handled to help push through CUSMA ratification. But earlier in the week he said Mexico would not accept what he called intrusive U.S. demands for greater labour market oversight.

Mexico is the only one of the three nations to ratify the deal, which was signed almost exactly a year ago. Canada says it will move in tandem with the United States.

— Reporting for Reuters by David Ljunggren.

The post A ‘little more work’ needed on CUSMA deal, Trudeau says appeared first on Country Guide.

CN and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference announced separately Tuesday they had reached a tentative agreement ending an eight-day strike by over 3,000 unionized staff.

The agreement called for affected employees to return to work starting at 2 p.m. local time Tuesday, with yard assignments starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday. There will be no job action while the unionized employees vote on whether to ratify the agreement, CN said.

Results from the ratification vote are expected within about eight weeks, the company said. Meetings are to be held across the country to explain the terms of the agreement to members, after which the affected employees will vote on the deal through a secret-ballot electronic vote, the Teamsters said, adding the process “usually takes several months.”

Details of the tentative deal won’t be released until the members have had a chance to review it, the union said. The Teamsters have previously said wages were not a sticking point in contract talks, but focused instead on issues such as worker safety and fatigue, and CN’s proposal for a lifetime cap on prescription drug coverage.

The strike has been described as the longest such work stoppage in the rail sector in a decade. Rail labour disputes in recent years have ended relatively quickly, often under threat of federal back-to-work legislation.

CN, during the strike, repeatedly called on the Teamsters to return to work and submit their labour dispute to binding arbitration — an option the union rejected.

Teamsters Canada, in its release, thanked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “for respecting workers’ right to strike.” Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, Transport Minister Marc Garneau and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service “were instrumental in helping parties find common ground,” the union added.

“Previous governments routinely violated workers’ right to strike when it came to the rail industry,” Teamsters Canada president Francois Laporte said in the union’s release. “This government remained calm and focused on helping parties reach an agreement, and it worked.”

“These agreements are further evidence that when employers and organized labour work together, we get the best results for Canadians and for our economy,” Garneau and Tassi said in a statement. “We congratulate and thank both CN and the Teamsters for staying at the table and coming to an agreement for the benefit of all Canadians.”

‘Real risk’

All that said, the work stoppage halted rail service, leaving grain traffic stalled on the Prairies and backing up shipments of propane, required by farmers across the country to fuel grain dryers during a particularly wet harvest season.

“We are extremely pleased to see this strike come to an end and we hope for very quick ratification for all parties,” Markus Haerle, chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario, said in a separate release Tuesday.

However, “many of our farmer-members desperately need propane to fuel grain dryers. We cannot sell wet corn and our crops were at real risk,” he said. “Farmers who had to find alternate drying means have suffered added costs and those that left corn in the field are dealing with deteriorating quality of their crop.

“We are hopeful that propane shipping will be seen as a high priority for everyone involved as the backlog of shipments is dealt with.”

Furthermore, he said, “it is very clear that rail is an essential service for this country. We expect the government will treat it as such in the near future.”

The idea of declaring rail an “essential service,” thus limiting future job action, found traction with other grain groups as well.

“While we’re grateful that the parties have come to an agreement, the federal government needs to take steps to ensure that grain farmers are not held ransom in the future. Rail service should be deemed an essential service,” Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, a Saskatchewan director with the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, said Tuesday.

“The loss of two weeks of shipping time cannot be made up and it will take time to fill the backlog of cargo ships that are waiting in Vancouver,” the Wheat Growers said, adding CN “needs to use all available rolling stock and personnel to maximize the movement of grain.”

The Alberta Wheat and Barley Commissions concurred Tuesday, noting longshoremen in Canada “are already prevented from engaging in strikes that would impact the loading of grain vessels and the commissions believe those same provisions should be extended to rail.”

Thirty-five grain ships are reported to be waiting at Vancouver, some of which “will eventually incur demurrage penalties, which are ultimately charged back to farmers,” the commissions said Tuesday.

“The threat of strikes affecting grain movement is a recurring theme every few years and we need a long-term solution to ensure Canada can meet its export commitments,” Alberta Barley chair David Bishop said in the same release.

While not mentioning essential service rules, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said Tuesday that “in light of this strike, (it) will be consulting its membership to determine ways in which potential future rail service interruptions do not negatively impact Canadian farmers.”

Quebec’s Union des producteurs agricoles concurred, with chairman Marcel Groleau saying Tuesday such a situation must never again occur, calling the matter a question of both economic and food security. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post Grain groups seek ‘essential service’ status for rail appeared first on Country Guide.