Canadian Union Poised to Strike against Freight Railroads Hours after Trains Resume Service after Shutdown
Canada’s freight rail shutdown threatens U.S. supply chains.
While our nation has been focused on the presidential election, Canada has been dealing with strikes that threaten its freight rail service.
Earlier this week, Canada’s two major freight railroads shut their operations, locking out 9,000 members of the Teamsters union who operate the trains.
Nearly a third of the freight handled by the two railroads — Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Southern (CPKC) — crosses the US-Canadian border, and the shutdown could disrupt operations in a number of US industries, including agriculture, autos, home building and energy, depending upon how long the shutdown lasts.
“CPKC is acting to protect Canada’s supply chains, and all stakeholders, from further uncertainty and the more widespread disruption that would be created should this dispute drag out further resulting in a potential work stoppage occurring during the fall peak shipping period,” the company said in a Thursday statement shortly after the start of the lockout at 12:01 am ET. “Delaying resolution to this labor dispute will only make things worse.”
This is the first time that both major Canadian railroads have shut down at the same time due to a labor dispute. The most recent work stoppage in the industry was a 60-hour strike at Canadian Pacific in 2022. Before that, there was a nine-day strike at Canadian National in 2019.
Thursday’s action is different from a strike, in which union members refuse to report for work. In this case, management is the one telling the nearly 9,000 Teamsters that they can’t work.
On Friday, Canadian National (CN) reopened and workers returned. The Teamster Union said the work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) would continue pending an order from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).
The Canadian government on Thursday announced that it would ask the country’s industrial relations board to issue a back-to-work order that should come soon.
The CIRB, which is independent, will now consult the companies and unions before issuing an order.
CN had said it would end its lockout on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET (2200 GMT).CPKC said it was preparing to restart operations in Canada and further details on timing would be provided once it received the CIRB’s order.
“I assume that the trains will be running within days,” Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon told reporters.
As well as requesting a back-to-work order, MacKinnon asked the board to start a process of binding arbitration between the Teamsters union and the companies, and extend the terms of the current labor agreements until new agreements have been signed.
Now, the Teamsters have given CN a 72-hour strike notice against CN shortly after it announced that the union planned to challenge the arbitration order.
It was not clear if the latest action would bring CN trains to a halt again when the strike notice expires at 10 a.m. Monday. The whole matter might be decided before then by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is overseeing the arbitration.
In that case, CN employees could continue working and CPKC workers could get back on the job while the union continues to challenge the legality of the arbitration order in court. All the parties had a meeting with the CIRB that began Friday morning and continued into the afternoon.
Canadian National, which has about 6,500 workers involved in the dispute, said the impact of the strike notice will depend on the timing of the CIRB’s decision. “It is in the national interest of Canada that the CIRB rule quickly, before even more harm is caused,” the railroad said in a written statement. CPKC has about 3,000 engineers, conductors and dispatchers involved.
Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said the union’s latest actions “will prolong the damage to our economy and jeopardize the wellbeing and livelihoods of Canadians, including union and non-union workers across multiple industries.”
There are a variety of issues related to fatigue, pay, and relocation that have not been resolved.
Contract talks between the Teamsters union and the companies usually take place a year apart, but in 2022, after the federal government introduced new rules on fatigue, CN requested a year-long extension to its existing deal rather than negotiate a new one.
This meant both companies’ labor agreements expired at the end of 2023 and talks have been ongoing since.
The move created the conditions that led to both companies shutting down at the same time.
The strikes would not only be painful for Canadians, but for Americans as well.
Canada sends around 75% of all the goods it exports to the US, mostly over rail. A prolonged dispute could disrupt shipments of a wide range of goods, from grains and beans to potash, coal and timber.
The lockout will also snarl commutes for tens of thousands of people in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, where lines rely on CPKC-owned tracks.
Canada, the world’s second-largest country by area, relies heavily on rail transport.
Meanwhile, enjoy Canada’s historic first.
Canada continues to struggle economically, and now for the first time in history, under the Liberals leadership, the country's two largest railways are on strike.
But PM Trudeau say's he's taking things "so seriously."https://t.co/vD78U502Po pic.twitter.com/hsCfO4Fcxv
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) August 22, 2024
More on the potential impacts on the U.S. is explained in this video:
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Comments
Teamsters. Lucky railroads.
My general understanding of the railroad industry right now is that they’re understaffed and a rough place to work. Lots of “forced” overtime and not a lot of rest time between shifts. Seems to be leading to a lot of accidents that could have been avoided if workers weren’t exhausted. I don’t think it’s limited to any particular railroad either.
I also think both sides have a point. The railroads need to keep stuff moving in an era where few seem to want to work on trains/in the yards/etc. And the unions have legitimate safety and overwork concerns.
We have a Norfolk Southern railyard nearby. It’s honestly amazing how much stuff they are constantly moving. I hope they figure it out soon.
I also don’t think the average member of the public knows just how massive train cars and locomotives are. A rail yard is extremely dangerous.
I think a part of the issue is that too many young folks are still headed to college, not realizing there is honor and pride in any good job, even the blue collar ones. If we could get this every-kid-needs-college mindset, the labor problem will be solved.
Great Grandfather survived WWI and got a job with CPR where he was run over in the yard and killed switching trains. Father worked as a conductor and engineer for 20yrs for CPR. Made good money. But to the dangerous point, one winter up north where we are from a school bus, empty thankfully, tried for some reason to beat his train at a crossing and lost. Train hit it broadside and pushed it almost a mile down the snowy tracks before the train could stop. Trains respect no one, please look both ways at all crossings.
My great grandfather died in aPennsylvania Railroad trainwreck. He was 23. His son, my grandpa, was one year old at the time. Lots of others died with him. Trains are big, heavy, fast pieces of equipment that need to be respected.
some locomotives over 400 thousand pounds when ballasted for hill work.
you are correct, most do not know.
All quite true.
Hmm, seize the railroads or the union bank accounts?
What will “Little Trudy” do?
He will do whatever does the most damage to Canada and the people of Canada.
The Teamsters are playing with fire here. Fully autonomous freight trains are running the tracks in Australia. This seems like an area ripe for automation and a takeover by AI.
Many railroads were compelled to carry firemen in the cab long after the last steam trains left service. Unions demanded it, and with the money the unions have, they bought enough railroad and utility commissioners to keep all of this in place.
How awkward for Mr. Trudeau.
I hate to say it but like the UK Canada is lost. The “Can’t we all get along” mantra is a nursery rhyme that cannot be a nation’s motto. Both countries have not had effective strong leadership in decades and it shows. Just like policemen, you might not want to hang out with them but need them, just as we need a leader with strong beliefs and policies. Like the Marine Colonel said in the movie “A Few Good Men”, “You can’t handle the truth”, This personifies the left today.
1) You have to realize that whatever the railroads and unions do in Canada, it will be for Canadian reasons and may not make economic or political sense to us. Canadians like it that way, and have every right to have it that way.
2) If there is any Canadian economic or political downside to whatever the railroads and unions do; as an article of faith it will be declared by them that it is all the nasty Americans’ fault.
3) In particular, they will blame the nasty, conservatives [especially Trump supporters] for any consequences to their own actions.
4) Nothing Americans can do will change this, so prepare for media abuse and if you have any business interests in Canada you might want to take whatever steps you can to reduce your dependency on them. And realize that any self-protective actions will be defined by Canadians and by our media as attacks on innocent Canadians. It is what it is.
Subotai Bahadur
When in Rome, do as the Romans.
When in America, do as Americans.
The rail lines, when operating in America on track on American soil, are bound by our laws, not Canadian law. The rail operators and unions can make a deal if they like, but safety, etc., on the American side is up to us, not Mr. Trudeau.
So what was the reason the companies locked out the workers? Impasse over negotiation terms for the 2025 contract? Working conditions unsafe? Under-manned crews? Pay scale is not adequate? Had some friends kids offered US railroad job, over $100k…let alone overtime.