TCRC begins strike at Canadian Pacific

Editor's note: This story was updated this morning with comments from the Soy Transportation Coalition.

Canadian Pacific announced yesterday that the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) withdrew its services and initiated a work stoppage.

The stoppage began while the railroad was still engaged in negotiations with a federal mediator, CP officials said in a press release.

TCRC issued a news release that "falsely claimed that CP had initiated the lockout," CP officials said.

"We are deeply disappointed that, in the final hours before a legal strike or lockout was to potentially occur, the TCRC Negotiating Committee failed to respond to the company’s latest offer that was presented to them by the federal mediators," said CP President and CEO Keith Creel.

As a result of the TCRC’s action, CP is executing a safe and structured shutdown of its train operations across Canada and will work closely with customers to wind-down Canadian operations, company officials said.

TCRC is on strike at CP throughout Canada, union officials said in a press release issued yesterday.

Wages and pensions remain major stumbling blocks. However, also at issue in the talks are working conditions that call into question the railroad's capacity to recruit and retain workforce members, they said.

While it’s never a “good time to have a stoppage at one of the U.S. agriculture’s key rail service providers,” now is a particularly bad time given the supply chain challenges that continue to plague the global economy, said Soy Transportation Coalition Executive Mike Steenhoek in an email.

The war in Ukraine also is placing additional pressure on delivering U.S. agricultural production and inputs, especially fertilizer, he said.

"A shutdown in operations at Canadian Pacific will certainly compound that stress," Steenhoek said. "We encourage both parties to continue negotiations and arrive at an agreement that will result in a quick resumption of service."

Last year, CP transported 428,568 carloads of grain and 151,789 carloads of potash, he said, citing CP numbers. Much of that grain originates from, or is delivered to, the 175 U.S. grain elevators served by the railroad.

"The current through which the global supply chain operates is predictability. Without predictability, it is impossible to have a functioning, effective supply chain," Steenhoek said.