The San Group is “stuck between a rock and a hard place” as the prospect looms of a second port strike, says executive director Kamal Sanghera.
The possibility of the strike resuming comes after access to the west side of Vancouver Island was blocked for much of June due to a wildfire and resulting damage to Highway 4 and adjacent bluffs. San Group trucks are carrying product out in the evenings to accommodate ongoing highway closures.“All our cargo is stuck. We can not ship it out of Port Alberni or even from the Lower Mainland — anywhere.
The San Group is holding about 30 containers and has another 60 filled with finished products ready to go. They are waiting in Port Alberni, Langley and Delta.“We’ve got three weeks backlog right now.”Value-added products from the Island are shipped to markets that include Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe.
Graham Kissack, Paper Excellence vice-president of environment, health and safety and communications, said the company’s Crofton pulp and paper mill remains idled because of poor market and therefore has not been affected by job action.