The largest walkout against a single employer in Canadian history started yesterday, and while some effects can already be seen, only time will tell how other services could be affected.
In the agriculture industry, there are a number of services that could be affected by the strike. Keystone Agricultural Producers(KAP) President, Jill Verwey, says there are definitely a few areas of concern for the industry.
"I think the big impact is certainly on a couple of areas. One would be any of the programming that is offered through AAFC. AgriInvest, AgriStability, some of the skills programming, certainly the new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Any of the programming through there will certainly be impacted."
Verwey says the Canadian Grain Commission, will also be affected by the strike, as a number of their workers are represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). She says it's very likely there will be a delay in some grain shipments, and depending on the length of the strike, it could result in some backlogs.
Verwey says that immigration as a whole could also be affected by the strike, and that will lead to issues within the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.
"We're right in the middle of spring, so any impact on the temporary foreign worker program would have some impacts on farmers. Particularly getting workers in this spring."
Verwey says the longer the strike lasts, the greater these impacts will become.
"If it's dragged out over a long period of time, then those impacts have a snowballing effect. In the end, if it's a long-term situation, it trickles down to if we have backlogs, then we have farmers that are unable to move grain, and worse case, then you have restrictions on cashflow, and farmer's ability to market the rest of their 2022 grain, and the ability to purchase inputs for this year."
Verwey says KAP has expressed its concerns to both the federal government, and PSAC, and they hope the two sides will keep an open dialogue and set up contingency plans to minimize negative impacts.
