There are a lot of unofficial rumors about a potential merger between Viterra and Bunge.
Company representatives are keeping tightlipped, but the Grain Services Union has released a statement.
"Any merger or acquisition between these two companies could spur considerable job loss resulting from office closures and corporate restructuring and create a reduction of competition in grain handling and processing that directly affects Canadian producers."
General Secretary Steve Torgerson says we need to ensure that the interests of Saskatchewan and Prairie people are considered if this merger or acquisition is to occur.
"When large corporations merge it is touted as progress, shareholder value, and aligning interests. It is rarely viewed from the perspective of working people, those who grow the crops and make their livelihood farming, or the workers who handle the crop."
He notes that the Competition Bureau will review any merger or acquisition, but GSU insists that working people’s voices are also heard and not lost in the media stories of the creation of an agricultural trading giant or the effect on the share price.
"We need to protect Saskatchewan jobs in Viterra’s head office, and we need to think about the effects of such a merger on the competition in the grain buying market across Canada. If the answers are bad for the workers and the farmers, we shouldn’t let it happen."
Torgerson says we need to protect Saskatchewan jobs in Viterra’s head office, and we need to think about the effects a merger would have on the competition in the grain sector and if the answers are bad for the workers and the farmers, we shouldn’t let it happen.