August 24, 2024 – The CIRB has now ruled that the union must return to work at CN and CPKC. There has not been any confirmation from the union if it will honor this ruling. More news as it develops.
August 23, 2024 – In a predictable move, the Teamsters union has just served CN Rail with 72-hour strike notice and Teamsters has also challenged the minister’s move to resume rail services as CPKC lockout drags on. This puts the semi good news of this morning on a hold and we are back to a potential strike that would begin on Monday.
August 23, 2024 – A further development this morning as CN Rail’s union has announced that they will close their picket line and return to work as per the minister’s request. CPKC’s union has not made the same commitment.
August 23, 2024 – As predicted this morning, news has now emerged that the union has refused to abide by the Labour Minister’s request for binding arbitration. As a result, the rail strike will continue until either the union agrees to abide by the request and/or back to work legislation has occurred.
August 23, 2024 – Despite yesterday’s move by the Canadian government to force binding arbitration on the two sides in the railway strike, whether the railway strike is actually over has not yet been finalized. The key reason is that the union still must agree to abide by this ruling and put down its signs and close their pickets. A similar situation happened in July when the government tried to stop the Westjet strike only to be embarrassed when the union refused its order. The union is consulting its legal counsel on next steps. If the union does not agree, then the government has no choice but to order parliament back to session and pass back to work legislation. As this is a minority government, there is also doubt whether or not this can be accomplished. Canaan Transport is cautiously optimistic that the strike may come to a close soon but even if the union agrees today to immediately head back to work, it will take upwards of 1-2 weeks to fully recover the rail schedule.
August 22, 2024 – In a stunning about face, the Canadian minority government has now stepped into the rail strike situation less than 24 hours after they said that they would not interfere. The government however is currently powerless if the union does not heed its request for binding arbitration. The current information is that the union will still use delaying tactics as it may try to force the government to enact back to work legislation, and the earliest that the government can call parliament together is in September. Therefore, we urge our customers that although this is cautiously optimistic news, the delays and strike/lockout is not over until the union stops its strike action. More news as it develops.
August 22, 2024 – As forecasted, an agreement was not reached and there is now a nationwide rail strike in Canada. Canaan Transport has been diligently advising our customers of their options including transloading their urgent cargo to avoid delays. We will continue to update our clients as the rail strike’s effects are felt in the coming days.
August 21, 2024 – With no announcements from the rail lines or their unions, we brace for the beginning of the strike/lockout. Although Maersk has now advised that they no longer have a ban on cargo to Canada, we are already hearing reports of a turbulent wind-down in operations. Although many of Canaan’s customers have already known about the pending rail strike, we are still getting calls from customers that were unaware of the developments. Our current forecast is that this strike may take upwards of 2 weeks before a negotiated settlement and/or binding arbitration is ordered, given the weakness of the current Liberal minority and its dependence on the NDP.
August 20, 2024 – As the reality of a nationwide rail strike grows closer day by day, carriers are now taking action to limit their exposure. Maersk is the first carrier to ban all Canada bound cargo that requires an inland move such as goods going to Toronto. Canaan Transport forecasts that other carriers will be making parallel moves such as this until the rail situation has been settled. More news as it develops.
August 19, 2024 – Amidst the background of a Canada wide rail strike, two other potential strikes are causing concern. Here are updates on the Port of Vancouver and the US East coast ports potential strike:
On Friday, the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 514 participated in a case management call to discuss continuation of the Canada Industrial Relations Board hearing to address the union’s DP World (Canada) Inc. pay and manning proposal, which the BCMEA alleges to be illegal, constituting the union bargaining in bad faith. The hearing will continue from September 11 to 17. At the time of writing, neither party had issued 72-hour notice of strike or lockout, nor have there been any labour disruptions.
And in other news, it looks like retailers are rushing cargo to arrive into the US prior to October 1st to avoid a likely US east coast port worker’s strike. More news as that develops.