Sask. farmers monitoring potential CP Rail lockout situation closely

Saskatchewan farmers are concerned that 3,000 CP Rail workers could soon be locked out after a 72-hour notice was posted on Teamsters Canada. 

Engineers, conductors and yard employees could all be out of work as soon as this weekend.

“We could see some issues on fertilizer supply that comes in by rail through CP. I also think that in the livestock sector with the drought last year and the shortage of feed, I think there’s been a whole bunch, well I know there’s been a whole bunch of feed grains coming up from the States by rail. I think that should be a huge concern,” Agriculture Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) president Ian Boxall said.

This week, approximately 850 Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) councillors signed a petition calling for action by Ottawa to prevent rail service disruption. The Saskatchewan government used their wording in presenting an emergency motion to the Sask. Legislature.

“That this legislative assembly calls on the federal government to one, immediately implement back to work legislation should a work stoppage and disruption of rail service occur and two, introduce legislation to designate rail service as an essential service to prevent further disruptions that are caused by labour disputes,” Premier Scott Moe said.

The opposition NDP tried to block the motion because it felt the onus should be on the railway to offer a fair deal to its workers. Both sides agreed that it’s a bad time for a rail service disruption.”

“We owe it to Saskatchewan people to do all that we can to make sure that there is not a rail stoppage here in our province,” NDP MLA Trent Wotherspoon said.

“It would cost our rural communities and our agricultural communities, our potash industry, our forestry industry, our energy industry would all pay dearly for a work stoppage at this point in time,” said Moe.

The emergency motion was passed but the province has no power to intervene in a matter that is of federal jurisdiction. CP Rail remains poised to lockout its employees on Sunday, March 20 if last minute negotiations fail to bring an agreement.