NORTH Shore port terminal operators say theyre 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.
Were doing everything we can to mitigate the impact on our customers, said Belsheim.
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 original 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 Shores 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 dont normally stockpile grain, he said. Anything they have there is earmarked for a particular sale.
If grain cant be shipped from the Prairie provinces, itll 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.
Were talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.
Once the grain stops flowing, the money stops.
Port Metro Vancouver said in a press statement Wednesday there had been no delays reported during the first day of the strike.
CP and the Teamsters union continued to meet Wednesday with the help of federal mediators.
CPs previous agreement with the union which represents about 4,500 locomotive engineers, conductors, yardmen and rail traffic controllers expired Dec. 31.
Proposed changes to the unions pension agreement is reportedly a key issue in the dispute.
Meanwhile, federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said Ottawa is prepared to bring in back-to-work legislation to end the strike if necessary possibly as early as Monday.
Rait said a lengthy strike could cost the Canadian economy an estimated $540 a week.
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