Farm commodity groups worried about railway strike, send letter to two provincial ministers
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The commodity groups that make up Team Alberta Crops have wrote to two provincial ministers outlining concerns over a possible railway strike.
The letter to Minister of Transport and Economic Corridors, Devin Dreeshan and Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, RJ Sigurdson says a strike would be “a serious threat to the trade-dependent agriculture sector,” and adds farmers need dependable rail service to ship grain out and to bring in things needed to grow this year’s crop.
The letter says in April, CN shipped 2.77 million tonnes of grain and selling grain now helps pay for crop inputs. The groups also say even a disruption of service for a few days could create backlogs and shutting down both railways “could create a national crisis.”
There are 9,300 railway workers that could be on strike by Wednesday, May 22, if they don’t have a new contract in place.
