CN, CPKC worker lockout begins

CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City early today shut down operations after locking out employees who are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. The parties couldn’t come to labor agreements by a midnight deadline. 

CN’s offer improved wages and would have seen employees work fewer days in the month by aligning hours of service with federally mandated rest provisions, company officials said in a press release. The offer also proposed a pilot project for hourly rates and scheduled shifts on a part of the CN network.

“Over the last nine months, CN has negotiated in good faith. 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 officials said.

Meanwhile, CPKC has bargained in good faith but union leadership “continues to make unrealistic demands that would fundamentally impair the railway’s ability to serve our customers,” CPKC officials said in a press release. The Class I continues to call for the union to engage in binding arbitration.

“CPKC reiterates its standing offer to resolve this matter through binding arbitration. Acceptance of that offer by the TCRC would immediately end this work stoppage and mitigate further harm and disruption to supply chains and our economy,” company officials said.

TCRC leaders maintain that the railways are asking the union to make concessions on crew scheduling, rail safety and fatigue management. Those issues are similar to what U.S. rail unions cited as concerns when they threatened a rail strike in the United States in 2022.

TCRC represents 6,000 conductors, conductor trainers, yard coordinators and locomotive engineers across the CN network; and 3,200 locomotive engineers, conductors and train-yard workers at CPKC.