Article content

Saskatchewan farmers are growing concerned about the possibility of a strike at one of the country’s major railway companies in the middle of what is expected to be a busy month of grain shipments following a delayed harvest.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents around 3,000 Canadian National Railway Co. employees, said Monday its members, who have been without a contract since July, could go on strike as early as Nov. 19.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Farmers, potash miners watching as railway workers vote for strike action Back to video

That’s “very bad timing,” as any disruption to grain shipments before the coldest months of the year could prove detrimental to farmers, said Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan president Todd Lewis.

“We’ve got some catching up to do already this fall,” Lewis said of this year’s harvest, the progress and quality of which has been hampered by poor weather across much of the province — putting pressure on farmers already.

“We’ve got customers that want our product,” Lewis continued, adding that farmers have little recourse and even a short disruption like the hours-long Canadian Pacific Ltd. strike last year could still have negative effects.