Canada’s grain farmers say a strike at Metro Vancouver terminals would cripple crop exports if it were allowed to take place.
The response comes after the union representing grain workers at terminals in Metro Vancouver said it has served their employer with a 72-hour strike notice. “Grain farmers in the prairies rely heavily on the Port of Vancouver to handle and export the majority of the grain they grow,” the statement from the Grain Growers of Canada says. “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.”
Grain Workers Union Local 333 says the union’s bargaining committee made the decision to issue a strike notice after the Vancouver Terminal Elevators Association “invested very little effort” during negotiations last week. “You are required to leave the terminal at that time if you are working,” the statement says to workers.