CN Workers Continue to Rally for Improved Working Conditions

Feb 06, 2020

The 8-day strike by thousands of workers at CN in November, tied up grain shipments to the coast.

Despite calls for the government to intervene, a deal was hammered out by both sides and on the weekend, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference voted more than 91 per cent in favour of the agreement.

More than 3000 conductors, yard workers and train employees will receive annual wage increases of 2.5, 2.5 and 3 per cent.

But wages weren't the main issue in the strike. The Teamsters wanted concessions on work schedules, hours of work and crew fatigue.

A spokesman for the union says some of their concerns are being addressed by CN, but they said the issue of fatigue is far from settled. The new collective agreement expires in July of 2022.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.