It is the turn of the Grain Producers of Quebec to ask to allow the transport of grain, despite the strike at the St. Lawrence Seaway.
The strike, launched overnight from Saturday to Sunday, paralyzes the transport of goods, bulk and grain throughout this strategic commercial axis, not only for eastern Canada, but for North America.
The Grain Producers of Quebec, a union organization, find themselves campaigning for a position similar to that of the employer in the context of this strike, namely the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.
The employer had asked from the start of the strike to exempt the transport of grain from it. He even approached the Canadian Industrial Relations Board for this purpose, invoking an article of the Canada Labor Code dealing with activities related to cereals.
“Quebec Grain Producers urge the federal and provincial governments to take the necessary actions to guarantee the free movement of grains on the St. Lawrence River,” they argued in a statement Wednesday.
“For Quebec producers, harvest time is a most crucial period for grain transportation. Thus, the closure of the St. Lawrence Seaway risks disrupting their movement from fields to port silos. This is why we urge the federal and provincial governments to do everything in their power to maintain the fluidity of grain transportation on the St. Lawrence. The vitality of our food system and the grain sector depends on it,” said the president of Grain Producers, Christian Overbeek.
The organization, which brings together 14 unions representing 9,500 grain producers, indicates that the St. Lawrence waterway allows the transport of six million tonnes of grain each year, intended for Canadians and for export.
These are local sections of the large pan-Canadian union Unifor, in Quebec and Ontario, who voted 99% in favor of the strike and have been walking the walk since Sunday.
On this issue of grain transportation, the Unifor union argued that the section of the Canada Labor Code invoked by the Seaway Management Corporation refers to a port, to terminal or transshipment facilities, but not to canals. and the locks.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board has requested written responses on this matter from Unifor and the employer. He will later decide whether to hold a hearing on the matter.
In the meantime, the parties must participate in a mediation phase in Toronto, starting Friday.
The dispute mainly concerns salaries.
