The union representing thousands of workers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. says it has served a 72-hour strike notice to the railway.
Canadian National Railway, one of Canada's two main rail companies, formally notified the Teamsters union in Canada on Sunday that it would start locking out union workers early on Thursday Aug 22nd at 12:01am.
Unless there is an immediate and definite resolution to the labour conflict, CN will have no choice but to continue the phased and progressive shutdown of its network which would culminate in a lockout.Despite negotiations over the weekend, no meaningful progress has occurred, and the parties remain very far apart.
Canada's other main rail operator, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, has already told the Teamsters union it will start locking out members early on Thursday. This means the vast majority of rail transit of goods in Canada would grind to a halt by Thursday, barring last-minute labour agreements between the companies and their respective arms of the Teamsters' union.
Both CPKC and Canadian National Railway Co. have been halting shipments in preparation for potential work stoppages by a combined 9,300 workers at the two railways.
On Thursday, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon rejected a request from CN to impose binding arbitration, saying he wants the company to bargain in good faith.
On Sunday, about 10 hours before the union issued its statement about the strike notice, MacKinnon posted on X that the two rail companies were continuing to negotiate with the union alongside federal mediators.
Explainer: Why Canada is on the verge of an unprecedented rail labor stoppage | Reuters