SOURCE: CPKC
CN Rail issued a notice Sunday to formally advise the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference of its intention to lock out employees on Aug. 22

An almost total rail stoppage looms over the Canadian economy this week as negotiations between the country’s two main freight transportation companies and unions make little progress.

CN Rail issued a notice Sunday to formally advise the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference of its intention to lock out employees on Aug. 22 unless either the two sides agree to a new deal or the government imposes binding arbitration. Separately, the Teamsters served a 72-hour strike notice on Sunday to Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC), which had already announced 10 days ago it would be issuing a lockout notice for Aug. 22.

The two companies are holding talks on new collective agreements for almost 10,000 workers at the two rail networks.

The Teamsters have rejected calls by the two companies to enter into binding arbitration. The union claims CN and CPKC are demanding a wide range of concessions around crew scheduling, hours of work and fatigue management.

Already, CN and CPKC have halted some shipments, including for hazardous goods such as chlorine and ammonia from the U.S., in anticipation of a work stoppage.

The threat of Canada-wide rail disruptions comes almost a year after the end of a three-week strike at ports in British Columbia that disrupted about $10 billion in merchandise shipments of everything from fertilizer to cars.

CN and CPKC own about 80 per cent of the industry’s tracks.