Canada labor minister meeting with railroads, union to head off work stoppage

As a Thursday deadline for an unprecedented shutdown of Canadian rail service creeps closer, here are the latest developments on both sides of the border:

• Canada Labor Minister Steve MacKinnon is meeting with representatives of Canadian National, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and federal mediators in a push to get the sides to reach agreement on a new contract. MacKinnon on Tuesday was scheduled to be in Montreal where CN has its headquarters and Wednesday in Calgary, Alberta, home base of CPKC. Canada’s labor-affiliated New Democratic Party, a key supporter of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s liberal government, said it opposes any federal intervention in the negotiations.

• In an email to FreightWaves Tuesday, a spokesman for CPKC said the carrier “remains focused on and committed to arriving at a negotiated outcome that is in the best interests of all our railroaders and their families. We are firmly committed to staying at the bargaining table to reach renewed agreements.” 

• The railroads on Sunday each issued formal lockout warnings to the TCRC, effective Thursday at 12:01 a.m. Also on Sunday, the union officially warned of its intention to strike, giving an identical deadline. 

• The railroads have begun embargoing shipments as part of an orderly shutdown. Sources told FreightWaves that CN so far had not disclosed any plans to U.S. workers on how it would handle the effects of a shutdown. CN said only in-yard train movements – no intercity trains – would take place during a work stoppage.

• As of Tuesday, CPKC had embargoed all shipments originating in Canada, all shipments originating in the United States destined for Canada and all carload traffic destined for Canadian interchange. The company is communicating directly with customers as additional embargoes and intermodal terminal restrictions for temperature-controlled containers and other intermodal containers are implemented, as necessary. 

• On Monday, CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel in a letter to employees said union leadership “grossly misrepresented the facts regarding our ongoing collective bargaining and the proposals made by CPKC during these negotiations.” Creel described as “patently false” suggestions by the TCRC that CPKC had “unilaterally changed or canceled the terms” or that its proposals “would compromise safety.” He added that the railroad remains committed to negotiating a new agreement.  

Canada’s largest container gateway is taking measures to manage vessel arrivals and maintain port fluidity. Ships en route to the Port of Vancouver are being instructed to adjust their arrival times by slowing down to prevent further congestion. “We expect disruptions to the movement of containers, grain, potash, coal and other cargo transported to and from port terminals by rail,” a spokesman told FreightWaves.