The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) reported on Feb. 28 that more than 3,000 union members who work as engineers, conductors, and train and yard employees for Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. have voted in favor of a strike action.
TCRC served a notice of dispute to the federal labor minister in early February, citing issues related to wages, benefits, and pensions (GM Feb. 25, p. 1). TCRC said 3,062 ballots were sent to members, with 96.7 percent voting in favor of a strike action. The 17-day voting period ended on Feb. 28 at 6:00 p.m. EST.
“With the show of your overwhelming support, we are hoping that this will encourage the company to negotiate terms acceptable to you, the members,” said a TCRC notice to union members.
The union said it will continue in an ongoing mediation process with a federally-appointed mediator/conciliator, with meetings planned for March 11-16. A legal work stoppage can only take place 21 days after the conciliation process is complete, but the threat of a possible strike on the cusp of the spring planting season was raising concerns within the fertilizer industry.
“There is concern in the market about the looming CP strike as the supply chain already appears to be bottlenecked heading into spring,” commented one Western Canada source, who noted existing shipping backlogs due to slower rail times and the cross-border vaccine requirements. “From our perspective, we are just trying to get as much of our purchased tons on hand as we possibly can.”
“Certainly there will be an impact in the full chain” if the strike takes place, another industry source told Green Markets. “A lot of shipments by rail will already be in place in the next month. Then truck is more critical. Truck freight has gone up substantially as well due primarily to fuel surcharges.”
In an email to Bloomberg, Nutrien Ltd. said the fertilizer industry is still “reeling” from impacts related to COVID-19, sanctions on Belarus, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The global food supply is already stretched and cannot afford further negative impacts at this time,” the company said in a statement. “We would be very disappointed to see a labor dispute have such a significant impact on global agricultural supply chains, and consequently, we would hope that the Canadian government will consider intervening to avert another transportation crisis.”
If the walkout proceeds, it will be the fourth time in 10 years that CP employees have found themselves in a strike position. The last occurred in May 2018 (GM April 20, 2018) and involved 3,300 CP employees. The strike ended within days and caused few supply chain disruptions.
A CP strike in May 2012 (GM May 28, 2012), however, caused widespread shipping disruptions and prompted numerous complaints from trade associations and affected industries before back-to-work legislation was eventually approved to end the walkout (GM June 4, 2012). TCRC went on strike against CP again in February 2015 (GM Feb. 17, 2015), but union members returned to work just three days later after the Canadian government indicated it would act quickly to introduce back-to-work legislation to end the strike.
Fertilizer shipments with CP competitor Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) have also been impacted by a number of disruptive labor disputes, including a TCRC strike in November 2019 that prompted calls from Nutrien, Canpotex, and Fertilizer Canada for government intervention to end the strike (GM Nov. 22, 2019). The eight-day labor action forced CN’s network to run at only 10 percent of capacity.
Last minute labor deals averted earlier TCRC strikes at CN in October 2013 (GM Nov. 4, 2013), February 2011 (GM Feb. 11, 2011), and October 2010 (GM Oct. 11, 2010). A week’s long strike at CN in February-March 2007 (GM March 5, 2007), however, prompted numerous calls from fertilizer industry companies for federal intervention to end the strike.