CN, CPKC strike looms as workers demand rest

Railworkers demanding more rest time moved closer to a strike that would disrupt supply chains from Halifax to Vancouver and down through the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico.

A union representing more than 9,000 employees at Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. said workers overwhelmingly voted in favour of job action to push the companies to include provisions to combat crew fatigue in their collective agreements.

The work stoppage would start as early as May 22 if no deal is reached. It would interrupt the transport of products — including cars, coal, consumer goods, fertilizer, grains, minerals and petroleum — as well as commuter services, which are run by the affected conductors, locomotive engineers, yard workers and rail traffic controllers.

“The simultaneous work stoppage at both CN and CPKC would disrupt supply chains on a scale Canada has likely never experienced,” Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, said at a news conference Wednesday in Ottawa.

Boucher said the union will go back to the bargaining table and “do everything in our power to reach a fair deal for our members.”

The two rail giants account for nearly 90 per cent of the industry’s revenue and more than three-quarters of overall tonnage carried by the sector.

Both companies said they’re working to reach a deal to avoid a work stoppage and warned that a strike would have an effect beyond the Canadian border.

“It would disrupt essential supply chains throughout North America, and significantly constrain trade between Canada and the U.S. and Mexico,” CPKC said in a statement Wednesday. Passenger rail services on its network in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will also be “unable to operate.”

CN Rail said it “maintains a cautious outlook regarding the possibility of finalizing a deal before a labour disruption that would affect the Canadian supply chain, the North American economy and our employees.”

Federal Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez said the government was concerned and urged the parties to negotiate in good faith.

“The best deals are made around the table,” he told reporters.

There’s a lot on the line not only for Canada, but across the continent, added Labour Minister Seamus O’regan.

“The ramifications of it are not lost on me. This is something I’ve been keeping my eye on for months and months and months,” he said.

“But right now, cool heads prevail. And you know, we’ve got good people there that are helping them reach that deal.”