Canadian pork producers worry over national rail strike

Canadian Pork Council chair, René Roy: “The feed our pigs rely on to survive is shipped by rail, and without a reliable and steady supply, their welfare is at risk. The stakes are simply too high to allow these disruptions to go unaddressed.” Photo: Canva

Representatives of Canadian pork and meat organisations have expressed concerns about a national rail strike, involving 9,000 workers, which could impact the transport of feed and food.

On Thursday 22 August, a national rail strike began in Canada. Following months of discussions, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City locked out their employees, but negotiations occurred between the companies and the unions later that day. As of Friday 23 August, CN trains began rolling at 7 am all across Canada, but trains for the other company “remain parked, as the union representing the railways’ employees plans to challenge a government order to enter arbitration to resolve a contract dispute.”

Against that context, the Canadian Pork Council and the Canadian Meat Council “urgently called on the federal government to employ section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to avoid the unprecedented damage to industry this disruption to service will cause”. Employing section 107 would direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board to help parties reach an agreement under binding arbitration and suspend the ability for either lockouts or strikes pending an agreement.

The Canadian Pork Council and the Canadian Meat Council stated: “This will provide needed certainty to Canadian farmers and processors, and their customers around the world.”

Impact of the strike

The impact of 2 major railways striking at once will have the worse ramifications not seen before in Canada’s history, noted the Canadian Pork Council and the Canadian Meat Council, adding that some processing plants anticipate losing up to CAN$3 million (US$ 2.2 million) per week. The initial impact will be a delay in customer deliveries, followed by a plant shutdown within 7-10 days of strike action. Once the rails resume it will take 2-5 weeks for plants to ramp back up to normal capacity.

Canadian Pork Council chair, René Roy, said: “The Canadian pork industry relies on the seamless operation of our transportation networks to feed our animals and deliver high-quality products to global markets. It is crucial that the federal government takes action to ensure the movement of perishable goods like pork and essential supplies like animal feed. The feed our pigs rely on to survive is shipped by rail, and without a reliable and steady supply, their welfare is at risk. The stakes are simply too high to allow these disruptions to go unaddressed.”

Grocery store impact

Professor Sylvain Charlebois, who leads Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab in Nova Scotia province, said the strike could cause problems for Canada’s population very soon.

He said to a Canadian media outlet, “We could start seeing some pictures showing empty shelves within days. So, let’s say the strike lasts 7 days – you’re looking at more than a month to recover, and that increases costs as well… After that, everything is on the table, unfortunately.”