Both major Canadian railroads and their union employees restarted negotiations for a new contract Wednesday in an effort to avoid a rail strike, months after the talks were officially put on hold .
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The country’s recently sworn in Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon met with representatives from Canadian National Railway (CN) , Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Canada’s Teamsters, as well as Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez on Monday to discuss the government’s expectations in their current collective bargaining negotiations.
“The meetings were frank, constructive discussions that reflected the gravity of the situation before Canada’s railways, workforce and entire economy,” MacKinnon said in a statement posted on X. “We expect these negotiations to be productive and substantive engagements that meet the needs of this moment. That is how settlements negotiated by unions and employers are reached at the bargaining table.”
MacKinnon said that the railways transport $400 billion Canadian dollars ($290 million) in goods annually. Federal mediators are participating in the talks.
“I don’t need to remind anyone that there’s economic risk,” MacKinnon told reporters Monday. “I think any Canadian understands how integral these two companies and their workers are to the functioning of the Canadian economy.
The previous rail contracts expired at the end of 2023, and negotiators have been in talks since the fall, but the 9,300 unionized workers at both railroads have remained on the job since without a stoppage. The railroads have been deadlocked with the Teamsters on terms of the contract since the deal’s expiration.
According to a spokesperson for the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), the Monday meeting was meant “to discuss increasing the pace and frequencies of discussions at both companies. A work stoppage can be avoided, provided both companies are willing to return with fair and equitable proposals.”
CN and CPKC released statements in the wake of MacKinnon’s Monday announcement, with both railroads stressing a desire to get a new deal in place.
“Since the beginning of negotiations, CN’s goal has always been and continues to be to negotiate in good faith with the Union to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that maintains safety and stability for its team, customers, and North American supply chains,” CN said in a statement. “CN has made multiple offers to the TCRC that we believe address employee issues.”
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CPKC reiterated its standing offer to resolve the negotiations through binding arbitration should the talks be unsuccessful. The Teamsters have already rejected both rail operators’ attempts at ending the dispute via arbitration.
“We recognize and appreciate that our customers and supply chains need predictability and time to plan for a potential work stoppage. At the same time, it is important to balance the need for planning with avoiding a potential labor disruption during the fall period when shipping demand is typically at its peak,” said CPKC in a statement. “A timely resolution to this labor dispute is particularly critical because a rail service disruption during the peak fall period would create even more widespread disruption with a longer recovery period for the rail network and supply chains.”
Even ahead of peak season, both railroads already have been negatively impacted by the potential of a strike as shippers reroute vessels away from the British Columbia ports . CN has seen its largest impacts in the intermodal segment, with volume dropping 17 percent from May 12 to July 14. CPKC said revenues from container traffic fell 4 percent year over year.
The railroads’ concerns come as uncertainty remains over whether the Canadian government will allow the strike to take place.
Seamus O’Regan, who stepped down as Labour Minister last month and led the way for McKinnon, initially stalled the union talks in May. At the time, he requested that the country’s labor relations board review whether a work stoppage would impede the country’s railroads from transporting certain essential goods.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) is still reviewing the stoppage, but is expected to make a ruling decision by Friday. If the CIRB determines a strike is legal, then the union can issue a strike notice immediately, but would have to wait 72 hours before taking strike action.
The Teamsters have already authorized a strike twice —once on May 1, and again after the 60-day time limit on the initial vote expired.
Since the negotiations were first halted in May, the union has remained far apart from the rail companies on areas such as wages, as well as issues pertaining to crew scheduling, hours of work and fatigue management.
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