On August 14th the PMTC, among other stakeholders, attended a meeting held by the National Supply Chain Office(NSCO) on the current situation with the labour dispute at CN & CPKC Rail, Canada’s 2 major Class 1 Railways.
CPKC has issued a lock out notice to both its rail workers and traffic controllers. If negotiated settlements are unsuccessful, it will take effect on August 22nd. CPKC has a small management team that will work to ensure any trains that are stranded on the network are delivered to the nearest yard/terminal and secured. The cargo will not be delivered to its final destination, rather to the closest terminal/yard. After all trains are secured, all operations will be wound down until an agreement can be reached. It is unclear at this time if any yards will be open and if containers will be able to be retrieved by customers. A lockout or strike of CPKC rail workers and traffic controllers will also effect commuter trains in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, as they operate on CPKC’s rail network. Embargo’s have already begun on the acceptance of dangerous goods/hazardous materials in an effort to ensure these products are not left stranded on rail cars. Other products will be embargoed in the days leading up to August 22nd.
https://www.cpkcr.com/en/media/TCRC-bargaining-updates
CN rail has also begun embargoes on Dangerous goods/hazardous materials to ensure rail networks can be cleared of these products prior to August 22nd. CN also has a small management team that will ensure any trains that are stranded on the network are delivered and secured at the closest yard/terminal. The containers on the train will not be delivered to their final destination, rather the closest terminal. It is also unclear if any yards will be open for container retrieval after August 22nd. CN has not yet issued a lockout notice but have issued a notice that if meaningful progress is not made in negotiations a lockout notice will be issued 72 hours in advance of August 22nd.
https://www.cn.ca/en/media/cn-and-tcrc-bargaining-updates-/
On the call the PMTC did advice the NSCO as well as others on the call, that a strike/lockout by our two major railways will have catastrophic results on our economy, security and health and safety of Canadians. We advised that the trucking network has no where close to enough capacity to handle the overflow of freight that would hit the market as a result of the closure of our country’s 2 major railways. We indicated that our members handle such essential products as food, medicines, blood, medical gases, chemicals used for drinking water treatment, fuel, and many other essential products needed in everyday life. Many of our members heavily utilize the rail network to move these products around the country and simply do not have enough volume in their networks to move this all to road. We implored the NSCO to bring recommendations to the government to work with all involved to ensure our rail networks remain open.
