Canadian Pacific Railway Work Stoppage Threatens New Supply-Chain Snarl
trains have been halted Sunday morning, stalling world shipments of key manufactured items and commodities comparable to fertilizers, after an deadlock in contract negotiations between the corporate and its conductors and engineers.
Canadian Pacific and the Teamsters Canada Rail Convention, which represents greater than 3,000 conductors, engineers and yard staff on the railway, disagreed over what triggered the breakdown in talks. The railway has been in negotiations and mediation since September with the union, which seeks elevated wage and pension advantages and extra relaxation instances.
A spokesman for Canada Minister of Labour
Seamus O’Regan
mentioned officers with the railway and union restarted discussions Sunday with the assistance of a federal mediator.
Canadian Pacific mentioned if the 2 sides have been unable to agree on a brand new contract it could favor shifting the discussions to a binding arbitration course of.
The Teamsters initially referred to the work halt Sunday as a lockout and later described it as each a lockout and a strike. Patrick Waldron, a spokesman for Canadian Pacific, disputed the characterization that the shutdown was a lockout.
The railway’s representatives have been nonetheless on the negotiating desk Saturday night time with a federally appointed mediator in Calgary, Alberta, Mr. Waldron mentioned, ready for a response to a brand new provide when the union issued its assertion that the railway had initiated a lockout.
The railway’s representatives have been nonetheless on the negotiating desk Saturday night time with a federally appointed mediator in Calgary, Alberta, Mr. Waldron mentioned, ready for a response to a brand new provide when the union issued its assertion that the railway had initiated a lockout.
Canadian Pacific continues to need to discount in good religion with the union, he mentioned. “The union’s actions present a whole disregard for the pointless harm this can trigger to the availability chain,” Mr. Waldron mentioned.
The union didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The prospect of a strike prompted plenty of companies, prospects and politicians to publicly urge the Canadian authorities to introduce back-to-work laws that may pressure hanging staff to return to their jobs. Such a legislation would require a vote of Canada’s parliament, which is ready to convene Monday after a break.
Labour Minister Mr. O’Regan traveled to Calgary, the place contract negotiations are going down. He had urged each side to keep away from a piece stoppage that may exacerbate current supply-chain bottlenecks and rising commodity costs. Halting Canadian Pacific’s trains “could not have come at a worse time,” he mentioned in a video assertion posted on Twitter.
Canadian Pacific is the sixth-largest freight railway in North America, transport items throughout Canada and south to central U.S. states. It’s the main shipper of fertilizers comparable to Canadian potash, which is mined within the province of Saskatchewan.
Nutrien Ltd. is the world’s largest company potash producer, and most manufacturing from its Saskatchewan mines is transported by Canadian Pacific to ships destined for international nations. Nutrien mentioned that it plans to extend its annual manufacturing of potash this yr by about 7%, or practically 1 million metric tons, after potash shipments from Russia and Belarus, main producers, have been successfully halted within the wake of the Ukraine struggle.
Nutrien Chief Govt
Ken Seitz
mentioned that if the rail strike extends for quite a lot of weeks, the corporate will begin lowering manufacturing at its potash mines as a result of its warehouses are stuffed with the fertilizer for planting season.
“It’s a irritating state of affairs given what’s going on on this planet, and we’d anticipate some laws,” he mentioned.
Write to Jacquie McNish at Jacquie.McNish@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Firm, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Appeared within the March 21, 2022, print version as ‘Rail Stoppage Stalls Shipments.’
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/TGQERJWGOBGN7MQGRFOMISAMB4.jpg)
