Canadian Rail Strike Scheduled for This Thursday

Nguồn: Canadian Railway Observations

Canada looks set to be hit by industrial action at its two main freight rail companies from Thursday as employers and employees made their positions clear over the weekend with no agreement in sight on labor agreements.

Canadian National Railway Co. formally notified the Teamsters union in Canada on Sunday that it would begin a lockout of union workers early Thursday morning.

"Unless there is an immediate and definite resolution to the labor conflict, CN will have no choice but to continue the phased and progressive shutdown of its network which would culminate in a lockout," the company said in a statement.

“Despite negotiations over the weekend, no meaningful progress has occurred, and the parties remain very far apart.”

Canada’s other major rail operator, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, has also told the Teamsters union it will begin locking out members early Thursday morning.

The Teamsters also gave CPKC a 72-hour strike notice late Sunday.

“Unless parties reach last-minute agreements, a work stoppage will occur at 00:01 on Thursday, August 22,” they said in a statement.

Starting tomorrow, CPKC said it will stop all shipments originating in Canada and all shipments originating in the United States to Canada, the rail company said.

Meanwhile, CN has banned the import of containers from its US partner rail companies.
The labor agreements between both railroads are set to expire at the end of 2023, and negotiations have been ongoing since then.

Both companies have said their trains running in the U.S. will continue to operate.
Under section 107 of the federal labor code, Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon could order the parties into binding arbitration, something his predecessor did last year to end a longshoremen’s strike in British Columbia. But in that case, unlike the current rail dispute, the parties have largely agreed on the outlines of a deal.

The potential strike is the first of what could be a difficult few months for the North American supply chain, with the real threat of industrial action on Oct. 1 by longshoremen across the U.S. East and Gulf coasts.
 

Source: Phaata.com (via Splash247)

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