UPDATE 2-Grain workers set up first picket line at Viterra
WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Grain handlers at Viterra Inc (VT.TO), Canada's largest grain company, set up their first picket line on Thursday at a terminal at Balgonie, Saskatchewan, a Grain Services Union spokesman said.
But the company said the pickets had no impact on its busy harvest operations, and said most unionized employees at the elevator chose to cross the line and continue to work.
"We believe employees' priorities are in the right place. They're focused on the customer and we're quite proud of their support, both for the company and for the offer they put on the table," said Colleen Vancha, Viterra's vice-president of investor relations and corporate affairs.
More than 600 elevator workers belonging to the union have been working to rule for the past two months, but decided to launch a series of rotating strikes as harvest gears up, said said Hugh Wagner, the union's general secretary.
Wagner said about a dozen union members picketed the elevator, just east of the provincial capital of Regina, including three people who work inside. Another three elevator employees crossed the line to go to work, he said.
Viterra officials disagreed, saying only two unionized employees were out on the picket line. Several other employees were not yet scheduled to work on Thursday morning.
Managers continued to run the Balgonie elevator, Wagner said, but he said the picket line was hampering operations.
The company has said it would lock out any employees who withdraw services and would continue to keep elevators running in the event of a strike.
Viterra shares were down 17 Canadian cents at C$11 at the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Emboldened by a run-up in grain prices to record levels last year, the union has said members deserve a better deal on wages and benefits than what Viterra has offered.
The union held an information picket at an elevator in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, on Wednesday, and Wagner said workers at other elevators were considering their next steps.
Viterra's Vancha said the fact that none of the Weyburn employees joined the picket line showed they support the company's offer.
About 200 other members of the same union at Viterra's head office in Regina have been on strike since early July.
More than 25 percent of the unionized office workers are crossing the picket lines to go to work, Vancha said.
The company and union met with a mediator to discuss the head office strike on Wednesday, Wagner said. Continued...
