It’s day five of the CN Rail strike as negotiations continue around the clock between the Teamsters union and the company.
Premier Scott Moe and many others in the country have been calling on the federal government to intervene and get the rail system back online. During the week, Moe was hoping the federal government would consider recalling Parliament before December 5 in order to help end the dispute.
But on Friday, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said he feels the right way to a fair deal is to have the two sides go through collective bargaining and not introduce legislation to force picketers back to work.
Moe believes if there’s no sense of urgency by the feds, then they will face a number of problems in Saskatchewan.
“It’ll be very problematic for the economy and the jobs we have here in the province, it’ll be very problematic in the way of layoffs that will come sooner rather than later in multiple industries,” said Moe.
The premier has already heard the amount of stress this strike has put on Saskatchewan’s economy from around the province.
He explained how there are some localized issues when it comes to the export of products. Some areas are lucky in this situation since they are serviced exclusively by CP Rail or by CN and CP, but others are suffering if they are only serviced by CN.
“You are going to see those terminals fill up and you will see costs come to the grain companies in the way of demerge,” stated Moe. “[There will be] a lack of ability to get those products not only to port but to customers around the world.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has also been sounding off alarms in the wake of the strike, stating small businesses across Canada could face significant economic issues the longer this dispute runs.
Over 3,000 workers hit the picket lines early Tuesday morning.
