NORTH Shore port terminal operators say they're hoping a settlement will be reached soon in the Canadian Pacific Rail strike - before it starts costing them money.
Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents unionized rail workers with CP across Canada, walked off the job just after midnight Tuesday after the union and rail company failed to reach an agreement on a new contract.
North Shore port terminals are directly served by Canadian National rail lines, but many of their customers rely on CP Rail to get their product to the North Shore terminals. That means local port operations could suffer a significant impact if the strike continues for any length of time.
On Wednesday, the first day of the strike, it was "business as usual" at Neptune Terminals, said president Jim Belsheim.
Neptune handles coal from southeastern B.C. as well as potash from Saskatchewan.
Port workers at Neptune were still unloading trains that had already delivered their products and there is inventory at the terminal, said Belsheim. But "significant volumes of our products do originate on CP," he said. Neptune normally unloads between two and three trains a day, said Belsheim, so the impact of a strike could be felt very quickly.
Grain handlers, like the North Shore's James Richardson terminal, have also been nervously keeping tabs on the strike.
"Half the grain in Western Canada moves on CP," said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association. Port terminals don't normally stockpile grain, he said. "Anything they have there is earmarked for a particular sale."
If grain can't be shipped from the Prairie provinces, it'll soon cause problems. If ships are forced to wait for trains to arrive at the port, costs to grain companies will soon start adding up, he said.
"We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said.
Port Metro Vancouver said in a press statement Wednesday there had been no delays reported during the first day of the strike.
CP's previous agreement with the union expired Dec. 31.
Proposed changes to the union's pension agreement is reportedly a key issue in the dispute. However, federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said Ottawa is prepared to bring in back-to-work legislation to end the strike if necessary.
