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Canadian National Railway increased pressure on Teamsters Canada Rail Conference in order to resolve a labor dispute that could have a wide-ranging impact across North America’s supply chain.
The railroad operator offered to enter into binding arbitration with the union, in hopes of settling a longstanding dispute that ran parallel with TCRC’s talks with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway.
CN said that its June 6, 2006 offer to TCRC resulted from the union’s refusal of all railroad offers and the union’s exit from voluntary arbitration. CN and the union resumed talks with an arbitrator on May 17. CPKC and TCRC returned the same day to the negotiating table.
On May 16, CN had revised its offer for the Teamsters. The changes were centered around the elimination of hourly rates and the scheduling proposals. CN reported that the union rejected the offer.
The unions at CPKC & CN have authorized a strike action on May 1, affecting a total of 9,300 railroad workers.
A Canadian Pacific train. In 2023, that railroad and Kansas City Southern will merge. Union members at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway (CPKR) and CN authorized a strike action on May 1, involving a total of 9,300 railroad workers. (David B./Flickr)
Mark McKendry told Transport Topics that a gridlock caused by a strike would result in Canadian trucking rates that were unprecedented. Mark McKendry, NFI Industries senior vice president of intermodal, told Transport Topics in May that the Canadian over-the road capacity could not handle the amount of freight currently moved by rail.
NFI is ranked No. 16 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. Transport Topics Top 100 List of the Largest For-Hire Carriers in North America ranks NFI No. 23 on the TT Top 100 List of the largest logistics companies.
TCRC announced on June 7 that they offered to stagger the negotiations to avoid simultaneous stoppages of work, but their offer was rejected.
“Staggering negotiations is a sensible option that would minimize disruptions, and allow all parties the opportunity to address their concerns more structured and in a productive manner,” TCRC president Paul Boucher said.
“CN and CPKC rejecting this proposal is a clear indicator of how little they care for the economy and supply chain as well as their unwillingness of negotiate. He added that they were using the Canadian public, multinational corporations and North American supply chain as pawns in order to further their greed.
The original date for the start of industrial action was May 22. However, the federal Minister of Labour Seamus o’Regan intervened on May 9 and referred the disputes to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board.
CIRB must decide whether or not the movement of propane and shipments of heavy fuels, propane, food, and water treatment materials through CN’s networks must continue.
The CIRB must make a decision before a strike can begin on either network. Both railroads have said that a decision will not be made before mid-to-late July, after the agency extended until June 14 the deadline for submissions to the case management conference.
Regardless of CIRB’s referral, CKPC stated May 9: “Our offer to the TCRC Leadership is that we agree to resolve this labor conflict through binding arbitration in order to avoid a work shutdown that is detrimental to all stakeholders.”
Rail transports about 70% of freight between Canadian metropolitan areas, and half of the country’s export volume.
In the meantime, carriers and shippers are continuing to prepare for any possible stoppage.
In May, C.H. Scott Shannon, vice president of Robinson Worldwide’s North American surface transportation, said that “at this point, most of our customers are looking at over-the-road alternatives.” We’re assisting shippers to make alternative plans because a typical train carries 300 truckloads and trucks will fill quickly.
C.H. C.H. TT Top 100 Logistics List: Robinson ranks No.
If there is a strike on both railroads, automakers and refrigerated shipping companies are expected to be the hardest hit.