The Ontario Federation of Agriculture has started a petition in hopes of ending the week-long CN Rail strike.
Last week, Sarnia-Lambton Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu said area farmers told her that they've been served notice that their propane supply had been cut off.
Lambton and Middlesex OFA Director Crispin Colvin said the loss of propane in the rural community affects a whole host of activities.
"Well it's certainly going to put the harvest in a very bad way because people have a lot of bills to pay and that's going to put them in a very difficult position, but I worry moreover for people who heat with propane and for the livestock, for the poultry barns and the hog barns, that rely on propane heat for their animals. Those animals could potentially freeze to death if we don't do something about this quickly," he said. "Also home-heating in rural areas, a lot of home depend on propane."
Colvin said the petition has one main objective in mind.
"The goal really is to, as much as anything, get the teamsters and the unions and the governments and CN Rail to the table to come up with a solution and do it quickly. We're not trying to push one group over another or railroad anyone, to make a bad pun, but quite seriously, this is a major problem that needs attention from all levels, particularly the federal government needs to step up to the plate on this."
About 3,200 conductors, train personnel and yard workers, including 165 in Sarnia, walked off the job Tuesday after the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and the company failed to reach a contract agreement.