cpr/cnr

Groups call for immediate end to rail lockout
 
Dan Kelly is calling on the federal government to intervene and put an end
to the work stoppage.
Rail work stoppage impacting GO lines
 
Some GTA commuters are impacted by the work stoppage with some GO stations
closed.
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Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, August 22, 2024 12:21AM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, August 22, 2024 6:03AM EDT

In a first for Canada, freight traffic on its two largest railways has
simultaneously ground to a halt, threatening to upend supply chains trying
to move forward from pandemic-related disruptions and a port strike last
year.

In the culmination of months of increasingly bitter negotiations, Canadian
National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out
9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the parties disagreed
on a new contract before the midnight deadline.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has begun posting pictures to social
media of workers from Halifax to Vancouver setting up picket lines.
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notice

Photos
Trains

Shipping containers and tanker and rail cars sit idle at the Canadian
Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) rail yard in Port Coquitlam, B.C., Monday, Aug.
19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Rail cars

Rail and tanker cars and shipping containers sit idle at the Canadian
Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) rail yard in Port Coquitlam, B.C., Monday, Aug.
19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The impasse also affects tens of thousands of commuters in Toronto,
Montreal and Vancouver, whose lines run on CPKC-owned tracks. Passenger
trains cannot run on those rails without the locked-out traffic
controllers to dispatch them.

MORE: No GO train service on Milton line and at Hamilton GO station
Thursday due to rail lockout

Pressure from industry groups and government to resolve the bargaining
impasse has been mounting for weeks, with calls to hash out a resolution
likely to ratchet up further now the work stoppage has begun.

The companies haul a combined $1 billion in goods each day, according to
the Railway Association of Canada. Many shipments were pre-emptively
stopped to avoid stranding cargo.

Parties bargained late into the night Wednesday at hotels in Montreal and
Calgary before talks broke off shortly before midnight.

Each side has accused the other of failing to negotiate seriously.

"The railroads don't care about farmers, small businesses, supply chains
or their own employees. Their sole focus is boosting their bottom line,
even if it means jeopardizing the entire economy," claimed Teamsters
president Paul Boucher in a statement early Thursday morning.

Bargaining played out in separate negotiations between each company and
the Teamsters, which represents 6,000 CN workers and 3,300 CPKC workers.

CN said it has negotiated in good faith over the past nine months.

"The company consistently proposed serious offers, with better pay,
improved rest and more predictable schedules. The Teamsters have not shown
any urgency or desire to reach a deal that is good for employees, the
company and the economy," CN stated.

CPKC called for binding arbitration, saying the union has made
"unrealistic demands."

Business groups have also demanded the government step in by imposing
binding arbitration and barring strikes and lockouts as the process plays
out.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on both sides on Wednesday to work
out a deal at the bargaining table.

Affected industries include agriculture, mining, energy, retail,
automaking and construction. U.S. railways have also had to turn away
Canada-bound shipments.

Shippers south of the border also rely on Canada's two main railways,
whose tracks run to the Gulf of Mexico and, in CPKC's case, to several
Mexican ports.

Meanwhile, Canadian ports fear containers will pile up on the docks as
cargo goes unmoved, causing congestion down the line and prompting some
carriers to reroute to U.S. terminals.

More than 32,000 rail commuters in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will
also have to find new routes to the office.

Lines affected by the potential work stoppage are TransLink's West Coast
Express in the Vancouver area, Metrolinx's Milton line and the Lakeshore
line's Hamilton GO station in the Greater Toronto Area, and Exo's Candiac,
Saint-Jérôme and Vaudreuil/Hudson lines in the Montreal area.