Toronto Truckers gear up for oil strike

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Truckers gear up for oil strike Economic damage feared as some drivers park their rigs, but hopes for deal remain STEPHANIE NOLEN AND COLIN FREEZE

With reports from Greg Keenan, Jeff Gray, Oliver Bertin and Richard Mackie Saturday, September 23, 2000

TORONTO -- Dozens of Ontario truck drivers parked their rigs last night, raising the spectre of major economic disruption as they prepared to strike over fuel prices that have doubled in the past year.

The Ontario government said it could not reach a deal with independent truckers during the day yesterday, and some drivers announced they would make no more deliveries until the federal and provincial governments made good on promises to provide price relief.

But conflicting signals came last night from various members of the loosely affiliated National Truckers Association about whether a full-scale strike actually would begin.

Truckers did say that if it came to strike action, they would park only in front of refineries and fuel depots -- not in the middle of highways, as they had first vowed to do -- because they do not want to alienate the public.

Few traffic slowdowns were reported last night, but some truckers have refused to make scheduled deliveries over the weekend.

Even as the truckers weighed their options, events in the United States caused a drop in the once-skyrocketing price of crude oil.

The White House announced yesterday that it will tap U.S. emergency oil reserves for the first time since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Warning of possible home-heating fuel shortages this winter, the Clinton administration authorized the release of 30 million barrels of crude during the next month from its underground storage tanks. Crude-oil prices plunged in anticipation of the announcement, which was made after markets had closed for the day. The price of West Texas crude tumbled $1.32 (U.S.) to $32.68 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's more than $4 a barrel below this week's peak.

In Ontario, a truckers strike would mean product shortages here, especially for the automotive industry. But it could also quickly affect grocery stores that would run out of fresh produce, bread and dairy products within days, trucking officials say.

David Bradley, chief executive officer of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, a shippers association that is not involved in the threatened strike, said yesterday the striking truckers could disrupt the Ontario economy in a matter of hours.

"Clearly our economy is a just-in-time economy," he said. "It wouldn't take long to shut down a production line."

Late last night, the head of the NTA was sounding a conciliatory note and Al Palladini, Ontario's Economic Development Minister, said he hoped that "calmness will prevail" as all sides work toward a solution.

Mr. Palladini was optimistic that a proposed working group including representatives from Ottawa, the province and industry stakeholders could eventually reach a deal to help drivers cope with soaring operating costs.

Bill Wellman, president of the NTA, said he hoped a resolution was close and that industry officials were continuing to talk.

"I'm very, very hopeful everything can be done within a few hours or a day or so," he said.

When asked what the situation was looking like for this weekend, Mr. Wellman said he anticipated that many of his members would not be making deliveries.

His rig was among 50 or 60 parked at the Coffee Time doughnut shop just off Highway 401 in Whitby, east of Toronto, which is ground zero for any strike action.

More than 100 truckers headed there as they finished their runs last night, and over coffee and cigarettes decided to reject a government request to put off action until further negotiations are held.

"We can't afford to run like this," said Andy Zaglis, a Newmarket, Ont., trucker who parked his three vehicles yesterday.

At that time, association spokeswoman Heather Whyte said a tentative deal on the table was not good enough, "so the protest is a go-ahead."

The truckers say that escalating diesel prices, which have almost doubled in the past year, leave them earning less than $500 a week for five 13-hour days of driving. They want the government to provide a break on fuel prices, or regulate an increase in mileage rates (the amount paid to move freight), or a fuel-tax rebate, or some combination of those measures.

The truckers say they have done enough waiting for some sort of relief from the government.

"The word here is that we gave them six months, we're not waiting any more," said Rick Albert, a member of the loose federation of owner-operators, in the Coffee Time parking lot. "To the average Joe truck driver, it looks like they're trying to pass [the buck]. [Prime Minister] Jean Chritien is saying he's not going to be bullied by a bunch of truck drivers. Well, we're at a state where we can't afford to run, so why should anybody go to work?"

On Thursday of this week, Mr. Palladini announced the formation of the task force with representatives of the truckers, the shippers, the carrying companies, and the federal and provincial governments. He pledged yesterday that it would meet by next Thursday and asked the truckers to wait until then before taking any action.

He warned that any protest would elicit no money from the province and could put at risk some of the gains they have made in recent days. And any attempts to blockade highways would bring a police response, he said, although he refused to provide any further details.

"It is not in anyone's interest to let public safety become an issue," he said, appealing to truckers to "allow me the opportunity to bring the issues and concerns forward to see if we can come up with a solution that will put more money in your pockets."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/gam/National/20000923/UTRUCMSB.html

He said he understood that fuel prices had made life very difficult for truckers, but noted that they were not the only ones affected. "There have been some very serious challenges for all Ontarians when you go to the gas pumps," he said.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 24, 2000


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