Canadian Rail Strike Moves A Step Closer

Fears of an upcoming rail strike in Canada have heightened recently after talks broke down between the unions and railway company, leading to steamship lines starting to omit some Canadian ports from schedules.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union (TCRC) and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City union (CPKC), which represent more than 9,000 Canadian railway workers, confirmed that their membership had voted in favor of strike action at the beginning of May.

A 21-day cooling off period was due to follow, but the Canadian government then deferred the matter to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) on the 10th May. Under Canadian labour laws the strike cannot get started until the board ratifies the industrial action.

That decision may be nearer after the most recent talks between the TCRC, the CPKC and the Canadian National Railway (CN) were abandoned when the unions walked out less than halfway through.

Should the unions proceed with strike action, then disruption to ocean freight and transport services will be likely for services to and from Canada and certain parts of North America.

Canadian container freight movements rely heavily on rail freight movements within the country, therefore services to and from inland points would be affected and congestion would undoubtedly build at Canadian ports.

Canadian rail freight is also important for cross border services in and out of the USA Northeast and Northwest, along with a significant amount of volume in and out of the US Midwest.

Carriers are already getting prepared for strikes as they have already arranged for vessels to omit or blank the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert on the Canadian West Coast. Eastern ports have not yet been omitted, but they will be impacted should the strike go ahead.

As a leading provider of ocean freight and fulfilment services in North America, Westbound are following developments closely and are very much hoping that strike action can be averted.