Freight trains could halt deliveries by Thursday
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The clock is ticking on potential rail delivery disruptions across Canada.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) issued a 72-hour strike notice to Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC). At Canadian National (CN), the company provided its employees with a lockout notice.
Both come into effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday.
Unless the TCRC and both railways can come to agreements, more than 9,000 workers will be off the job and freight trains will come to a halt before the end of the week.
In Canada, rail is a major contributor to ag products getting to export markets.
About 94 per cent of Canadian canola is moved on train tracks, the Canadian Canola Growers Association says.
Overall, Canada’s freight railways move over 900,000 tonnes of goods each day, the Railway Association of Canada says.
Ag groups are sounding the alarm, urging the government to act and prevent any service disruptions.
“Canada’s reputation as a reliable supplier is on the line,” Saskatchewan Pulse Growers said on X. “A rail strike would damage our trade relationships. Urge the government to act and #StopTheStrike.”
StopTheStrike.ca has been set up for those in the ag industry to send a letter to Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon.
The letter asks him to use his available authority to remedy the situation.
“I am writing to encourage you to employ section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to direct the (Canada Industrial Relations Board) to help the parties reach an agreement under binding arbitration and suspend the ability for either lockouts or strikes pending an agreement,” the letter says. “This will provide needed certainty to Canadian farmers and shippers, and their customers around the world.”
An Aug. 19 statement from Minister MacKinnon indicates he is staying out of the negotiations for now.
“These collective bargaining negotiations belong to CN Rail, CPKC and TCRC workers alone – but their effects will be borne by all Canadians,” the statement says. “The parties must do the hard work necessary to reach agreements at the bargaining table and prevent a full work stoppage.”
Other players in the goods transportation industry are taking steps to mitigate their own challenges the rail situation could cause.
Maersk, for example, “regrettably decided to halt further acceptance of any Canada destined shipments which require movement via rail…,” the company said in a statement.