Unifor holding strike votes with CN workers

Feb 23, 2023

All CN agreements with Unifor expired on Dec. 31, 2022

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Unionized employees at one of Canada’s national railways may be headed towards a strike.

On Feb. 17, Unifor announced talks between it and Canadian National Rail (CN) have broken off and the union would be starting strike votes.

Unifor is negotiating on behalf of about 3,000 mechanics, clerical workers and intermodal staff. In total, Unifor has five contracts with CN.

All of those contracts expired on Dec. 31, 2022, but the sides have been at the table since Oct. 19. And since Dec. 16, federal conciliators have been involved in the negotiation process.

CN tabled an offer on Feb. 14 it thought addressed the necessary issues.

“The offer includes increases in net pay and benefits,” CN said in a Feb. 17 release. “It also resolves outstanding issues between the parties and provides improved working conditions for all represented employees.”

Unifor tabled its own offer but the details of that offer are unknown.

But “instead of showing respect to our members’ demands, the company completely ignored them and instead put forth an offer demanding significant concessions,” Dave Kissack, president for Unifor Council 4000, which represents intermodal, clerical and mechanical staff, said in a statement.

These concessions, Unifor says, include accrued vacation entitlements, removal of the consent to early retirement (age 55) and a benefit plan that doesn’t expand coverage and could see employees pay out of pocket for certain benefits.

If these Unifor workers do go on strike, CN doesn’t “expect any labour action to impact our operations,” the company said.

Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.