Canadian Railways On Strike.

Harry Le Hermit

Harry Le Hermit

Member
It finally happened, but for how long?
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/22/business/canadian-railroad-shut-down-hnk-intl/index.html
Nearly a third of the freight handled by the two railroads — Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Southern (CPKC) — crosses the US-Canadian border
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Not sure of the impact on overall pricing, but keep in mind the ILC (International Longshoremen) are currently deadlocked, with a impending strike at the U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports... at or around October 1st.

Of course, the Canadian strike might end quickly... and the U.S. strike might not materialize. One can hope!
 

Ours are Always on strike.. this is fact. It makes it so difficult to travel. Our train ticket prices are astronomical, so the only way you can get affordable tickets to travel is to book about 12 weeks in advance..however they're on strike so often, you are very likely to pay for tickets that you can't use..

It's just diabolical.

The Rail Union holds this country to ransom..
 
Is it a lockout or strike? Somebody made the first move.

I've seen the stories on the net for a couple weeks now about a potential strike and shut down of the lines. In the US in many states if the employee is locked out they are eligible for some benefits/unemployment. The union should have funds for that too.
 
When I saw the news about the pending strike the reporter said they were not even close to reaching a deal that would prevent it. Since this could impact supply chains across many areas, hopefully there will be a resolution soon.
 
WhatInThe said:
Is it a lockout or strike? Somebody made the first move.

I've seen the stories on the net for a couple weeks now about a potential strike and shut down of the lines. In the US in many states if the employee is locked out they are eligible for some benefits/unemployment. The union should have funds for that too.
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It's a lockout and my understanding is that the one companies employees had planned on rolling work stoppages so that things were slowed down but not stopped. Then the employer dug in their heels and decided otherwise (along with the other company).
Paco Dennis said:
What's the problem? What are the workers asking for?
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Well part of the issue is wages (but it's always wages right?). But the other thing is, after the huge Lac Magantic rail disaster in 2013 where 47 people were killed, the government (?) forced them to make changes to how long rail workers got for rest breaks and time off.

That of course impacts the bottom line and apparently the companies are trying to get rid of those mandates or maybe they haven't been following them, not sure which. The other issue is the workers don't won't to be forced to move to other cities (without any moving compensation or financial support especially) because the employer is short handed there, if they want to keep their jobs.

And somehow, something changed maybe because of that rail disaster and the new rules, and both Canada's rail companies came to the end of their previous contracts at the same time. In the past that didn't happen so even if one company was on strike or lockout, the other company was there still doing business.
 
It’s seldom that either side comes out a winner on a strike. I will never forget the strike pilots did at United. We were on strike for 3 weeks and settled for exactly what the original offer was. I never voted to strike because I was satisfied with what the company was offering.

Up and until airlines were allowed to charge fees for checked bags, they never made a dime. We were always in the red. So why would members expect the company to give us outrageous raises? Had it not been the free money the government gave the U.S. airlines, we all would have closed the doors.
 
Paco Dennis said:
What's the problem? What are the workers asking for?
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More money and planned changes to working practices.

The railway strikes commenced on 21 June 2022 after workers walked out over wages, planned changes to working practices – involving the removal of guards from trains, the reduction in the number of open ticket offices, and an increase in the age at which people could claim the young persons and senior citizen card – ...
 
NYT - "The main points of contention for the railway workers appear to be scheduling, work hours and fatigue management. Hunter Harrison, a longtime American railway executive who ran both railways at separate times, introduced a system known as precision-scheduled railroading. To boost efficiency, he put trains on rigid, consistent schedules and cut back on equipment and employees through steps like running extremely long trains."

I have decades of experience shipping produce by rail in the US. The rail roads are a 1 way street, and brutal to do business with and be a non-executive employee of. And the consolidation in rail companies has made it worse. Hunter Harrison ran CSX (crash, spill, and xplode) after he left the CA railroads and I personally had to plead with him to service my customers at a critical period when they're first, second and third, inclination was to not deliver.
 
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The contracts for both railways ended at the same time. Whoever settled the terms should have noticed the dates. There is no alternative to ship by rail right now.
 
Unfortunately for the workers so much of the economy depends on them working that the governments take away they're ability to withhold their labor until such time as that they come to agreement over the terms of an employment contract. Of course the rail roads know this and use it to their advantage.
 
The Canadian Federal Government has ordered all railway unions to return to work by 1201 AM on Monday August the 26th, OR face massive daily fines to the individual Union executive members as well as individual union members across the country.
 

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