The president of the Wheat Growers Association says the federal government should take a more active role in ensuring that railways and the Teamsters union that represents workers avoid a strike or lockout.Either a strike or lockout at both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway could occur August 22. Wheat Growers Association president Gunter Jochum told the Western Standard the potential shutdown of rail service comes at the worst possible time.“We're going to be in trouble because farmers depend on timely rail movement from the grain buyers, from the grain companies, to move our harvest because we cannot store our whole crop in our bins,” the Winnipeg-area farmer explained.Jochum said some local farmers are already reaping bumper crops of oats, but some of the harvest will sit in the field if elevators can’t take it. He said a strike could leave as much as 25% of his crop left in a pile, then trucked in winter when cold temperatures jeopardize quality and make the task more unpleasant and expensive.So, do these disputes come to a head at harvest time intentionally?“Sometimes it sure seems that way, doesn't it? And I get it, from the government point of view, they're going, ‘You know what? If we drive them right into the heat of where they're needed, then both sides will have to come to an agreement.’ But I don't know, it's not working that way,” Jochum said.“Do they enjoy this? Why are they not coming up with a plan, a multi-year plan?”According to a CN Rail website, “By combining Duty and Rest Period Rules (DRPR), paid sick days, personal leave days, and existing rest and vacation provisions in their collective agreements, conductors and locomotive engineers currently work approximately 160 days a year.” Last year the average conductor earned $121,000, and the average locomotive engineer $150,000, with neither figure including pension and medical benefits.Jochum said the two sides “need to get their act together” and the fact a strike or lockout could be just days away was “pretty disgusting.”The producer said every time rail issues jeopardize shipments, international buyers have one more reason to look somewhere besides Canada.“To gain that trust back from customers is going to be tedious, and it's going to be a lot of hard work, and it's not good,” he said.The federal government forestalled a strike in May by getting the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to examine whether rail service was essential for health and safety in any way. Even though rail service ensures products like chlorine get to water purification systems, the CIRB ruled August 9 that rail service was unessential.“All that did was just prolong the agony. They should have been very proactive, the government, and said, ‘Listen, in the last 15 years, we've had way too many work stoppages. Everybody get in a room.’ You lock the doors, and you don't let them out until they have a deal and and you give them a strict timeline,” Jochum suggested.“This was something that could have been resolved way back in the spring at seeding time, and with the help of government, they've just kicked the can down the road.”Even though a potential Trump victory could lead to more U.S. protectionism and tariffs on Canadian goods, Jochum sees a lack of concern from Ottawa.“Our government is just sitting on their hands, not talking. They haven't said anything about that. They're not even worried about it. And that has me very worried,” he said.“This Liberal government in agriculture is one of the worst ones in the 40 years that I have farmed. You know that there have been other Liberal governments that have done just fine on the ag file. The previous Conservative government had done a great job on the ag file as far as marketing freedom, as far as negotiating trade agreements."This current government, it's atrocious what they're doing with agriculture. They have no appetite."
