Canadian rail strike leaves 9,000 workers out of work after labour talks fail

“Throughout this process, CN and CPKC have shown their willingness to compromise rail safety and tear families apart in order to make an extra dollar,” said TCRC President Paul Boucher, adding that the parties are continuing talks.

The two railway companies said in separate statements that they had negotiated in good faith and made multiple offers of better wages and working conditions.

“Despite our best efforts, it is clear that a negotiated outcome with the Mining Reform Commission is not within reach,” the Mining Reform Commission said in a statement on Thursday.

On Thursday, the company confirmed its demand to form a binding arbitration committee to resolve disputes.

So far, the Canadian government has asked the railway companies and unions to work together and reach an agreement, and has chosen not to use its power to refer the dispute to binding arbitration.

The companies said they would stop workers from working at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday.

Canada is the world's second-largest country by area and relies heavily on rail transport, which moves C$380 billion ($277 billion) worth of goods annually.

Companies in the United States are also expected to be affected, as the two economies are highly integrated. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, rail transportation accounted for 14 percent of the $382.4 billion in total bilateral trade between the two countries in the first half of the year.

CN and CPKC's coast-to-coast rail networks in Canada connect south of the border and serve as important supply chain links to trade corridors and ports throughout North America.

impasse

“The main obstacles to reaching an agreement remain the demands of the companies, not the union's proposals,” the Truck Drivers Association said Thursday.

In its latest offer, CN said it had improved wages and aligned working hours with federal government-mandated rest provisions, which it claimed would see employees work fewer days per month. The company said the union had not responded after it made the offer.

The union opposed the national railway company's “forced transfer plan”, which could see workers ordered to move around the country.

CPKC said its offer to train and engine division employees includes competitive wage increases and increased shift differentials.

The truckers' union said Thursday it had made multiple offers, but none had been seriously considered by either company.

Analysts say profits at both companies will be hit by the strike.

“Our rough calculations show that each strike/close day would negatively impact CN’s EPS by about C$0.04 and CP’s EPS by about C$0.02,” Desjardins analyst Benoit Poirier wrote in a note earlier this week.

The work stoppage increases the likelihood that Canadian railways will face larger wage and benefit increases next year than the United States as they work to end the shutdown, Stephens analyst Daniel Imbro said Thursday.

subscription here.

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Opens a new tab