As the Thursday deadline for an unprecedented shutdown of Canadian rail services approaches, here are the latest updates from both sides of the border:
Canada’s Labor Minister, Steve MacKinnon, is engaging with representatives from Canadian National (CN), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), and federal mediators to facilitate an agreement on a new contract. MacKinnon was scheduled to be in Montreal on Tuesday, where CN is headquartered, and then in Calgary, Alberta, the base for CPKC, on Wednesday. The New Democratic Party, allied with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s liberal government, has expressed opposition to any federal intervention in the negotiations.
In an email to FreightWaves on Tuesday, a representative from CPKC stated that the carrier “remains focused on and committed to achieving a negotiated outcome beneficial for all our railroaders and their families. We are dedicated to remaining at the bargaining table to secure renewed agreements.”
On Sunday, both railroads issued formal lockout warnings to the TCRC, set to take effect Thursday at 12:01 a.m. The union also officially signaled its intent to strike with the same deadline.
As part of an orderly shutdown, the railroads have started to embargo shipments. Sources informed FreightWaves that CN has not yet communicated plans to its U.S. employees regarding the impacts of a shutdown. CN has specified that only in-yard train movements—excluding intercity trains—would occur during a work stoppage.
As of Tuesday, CPKC had placed embargoes on all shipments originating in Canada, shipments from the U.S. destined for Canada, and all carload traffic intended for Canadian interchange. The company is directly updating customers as further embargoes and restrictions on intermodal terminal operations for temperature-controlled and other intermodal containers are implemented as necessary.
On Monday, CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel addressed employees in a letter, stating that union leadership had “grossly misrepresented the facts concerning our ongoing collective bargaining and the proposals put forth by CPKC.” He labeled as “patently false” the TCRC’s assertions that CPKC had “unilaterally altered or canceled terms” or that its proposals “would jeopardize safety.” Creel reaffirmed the railroad’s commitment to negotiating a new agreement.
