labour Archives - Page 6 of 9

File photo of a BNSF grain train crossing the Gassman Coulee trestle near Minot, North Dakota. (Photo courtesy BNSF Railway)

Biden administration makes case for quick Senate vote to avoid rail shutdown

Bill imposing deal on workers clears House

By GFM Network News December 2, 2022

Washington | Reuters — The Biden administration on Thursday urged the U.S. Senate to quickly pass a bill to block a railroad strike, warning that serious economic disruptions could be felt within days. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to approve a bill to impose a tentative contract deal reached in September on […] Read more

Signage outside an IBEW office in Winnipeg. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Crops, Machinery

Arbitration leads to deal for CN signals staff

IBEW held 17-day strike in summer

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News October 19, 2022

Canadian National Railway (CN) has labour peace with its signals and communications workers through to the end of 2024 coming out of binding arbitration. The 750-odd workers, represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council 11, had agreed to take their dispute with CN to arbitration in early July, ending a 17-day strike. […] Read more

Workers in the JBS beef plant at Brooks, Alta. appear in a screen shot from a 2018 corporate video. (JBS Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

General

Changes to TFW program to expand worker availability

Workplace LMIAs now valid for 18 months

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News April 10, 2022

The federal government is boosting the availability of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to ag and other understaffed sectors under a list of policy changes announced Monday. Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough announced what’s called the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map, which the government said “marks the next step in […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock, Markets

Pork industry looks ahead from turbulent 2021

Pork prices expected to stay elevated in 2022

By GFM Network News February 5, 2022

MarketsFarm — Labour shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, high feed costs and lower prices posed constant threats to Canada’s hog industry in 2021. Nevertheless, pork appears to be in a good spot entering 2022, according to two analysts. “2021 was not the best, but not the worst,” said Tyler Fulton, director of risk management […] Read more

General, Machinery, Markets, Reuters

Vaccine mandate to lead to inflation, empty shelves, trucking executives say

Parallel mandate for U.S. entry starts Saturday

By GFM Network News January 20, 2022

Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian consumers should soon see higher prices and some empty shelves in supermarkets and other retail outlets because of disruptions stemming from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, top trucking executives warned this week. The mandate, imposed by Ottawa to help curb the spread of the virus, has cost six […] Read more

File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops

Ontario to extend labour-related crop loss coverage

Losses due to COVID-19-related labour disruptions covered

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News January 12, 2022

A temporary crop insurance expansion that covers Ontario farms against crop losses due to “on-farm labour disruptions” caused by COVID-19 will be held over for yet another year. Agricorp, the province’s farm program delivery agency, announced in late December the feature first introduced in 2020 will be included again in 2022, at the same coverage […] Read more

Workers set up a temporary building for John Deere on Jan. 3, 2022 in the parking lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center in preparation for CES 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Steve Marcus)

Crops, Machinery, Reuters

Deere says its robo-tractors are ready to till the fields

By GFM Network News January 4, 2022

Detroit | Reuters — Deere and Co. said Tuesday it will start commercial delivery this year of technology that enables a tractor to till a field without an operator in the cab, a first for the top North American tractor manufacturer after years of effort to automate farm work. Deere plans a low-volume launch this […] Read more

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. packer profit margins jumped 300 per cent during pandemic, economists say

Increased costs don't explain higher profits, White House advisors say

By GFM Network News December 11, 2021

Washington | Reuters — Four of the biggest meat-processing companies, using their market power in the highly consolidated U.S. market to drive up meat prices and underpay farmers, have tripled their own net profit margins since the pandemic started, White House economics advisers said. Financial statements of the meat-processing companies — which control 55 to […] Read more

General, Machinery, Reuters

Deere’s U.S. workers on strike after rejecting deal

By Reuters, GFM Network News October 14, 2021

Reuters — Thousands of Deere and Co. workers began a strike on Thursday, the United Auto Workers (UAW) said, days after overwhelmingly rejecting a six-year labour contract that was agreed on with the tractor maker. Earlier this month, the world’s largest farm equipment maker and the UAW union reached an agreement after weeks of negotiation […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Reuters

British milk sours amid labour crisis

By GFM Network News October 6, 2021

London | Reuters — Some British dairy farmers have been forced to destroy tens of thousands of litres of milk due to rising costs, labour shortages and an acute deficit of truck drivers which has strained supply chains to breaking point, farmers said. A post-Brexit shortage of workers, exacerbated by the global strains of the […] Read more

Alberta crop conditions improve: report

U.S. grains: Corn sets contract lows on expectations for big US crop

U.S. livestock: Cattle strength continues

GFM Network News