Statement from Karen Proud, President and CEO, Fertilizer Canada
Fertilizer Canada supports the Canadian Industrial Relations Board’s (CIRB) decision to uphold the Minister of Labour, Steven MacKinnon’s direction to preserve industrial peace by ordering final binding arbitration for both CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), extend the term of the expired collective agreements, and order the immediate resumption of operations at both railways. We thank Minister MacKinnon and the federal government for their action to resolve the rail labour disruptions and get our trains moving.
While we are pleased to see this situation resolved, the stability of our supply chains is far from fixed. The West Coast Ports and the Port of Montreal are negotiating expired agreements and could be in a work stoppage position shortly. The disruption to rail service has caused significant uncertainty to Canadian businesses, with concerning economic impacts. Disruptions affecting all rail services across the country cost the fertilizer industry an estimated $55-63 million per day in lost sales revenue, not including logistical and operational costs. Before a stoppage even begins, there are significant slowdowns in service and halting of products. Some vital ammonia products have been halted since August 12th.
The lack of transparency and clear path in the collective bargaining process has caused considerable unpredictability for Canadian businesses and continues to damage our reputation as a reliable trading partner. If we can’t reliably deliver our products to our customers they will be forced to turn to competitors, like Russia, China, and Belarus. Customers lost because of supply chain disruptions are not guaranteed to return.
The increase in frequency and chaotic nature of collective bargaining that impacts supply chains show that the system is broken. We need long-term solutions to fix the collective bargaining process for all Canadians, including union and non-union workers across industries.
Fertilizer Canada is calling on the federal government to update the Canada Labour Code to establish mandatory pre-negotiation of terms for binding arbitration to expedite and streamline the negotiation process, introduce more structured opportunities for cooling-off periods before any strike or lockout action can be legally undertaken, implement a minimum term length for agreements to reduce frequency of negotiations, and review and adopt collective bargaining procedures that have proven successful in other jurisdictions. Due to fertilizer’s essential role in food security, we are also calling on the federal government to recognize fertilizer as an essential good and ensure its continued movement during labour disruptions.
