Canadian National rail workers launch strike

Communications and switching employees at Canadian National (CN) have gone out on strike, after failing to reach an agreement with the carrier on a new contract.

The strike began on 18 June at 11am ET.

But CN says its operations have not been disrupted by the walkout of the 750-member International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

Canada's largest railroad said it is "disappointed" with the situation but is committed to finding a resolution through negotiation or binding arbitration.

CN did not identify issues of disagreement in a letter sent to employees today. But the railroad said it had agreed to the IBEW's requests for "better scheduling, which will ensure two consecutive days off." CN also agreed to modify overtime procedures so it will be based on seniority and agreed to an increase in the all-inclusive expense allowance.

That increase is minimal and does not meet the pace of inflation, an IBEW negotiator said.

But the primary sticking point is wages, the negotiator said.

"It is unfortunate the company would not agree to a fair and reasonable wage and forced us into this situation," the negotiator said.

A disruption in CN's operations could affect shipments of major commodities such as grain, crude, coal and potash.

The strike is not expected to disrupt freight movements in the US. Only shipments originating in or heading to Canada are likely to be delayed.

CN's total carload and intermodal shipments this year through 5 June were down by 3.1pc from the same time a year earlier, according to CN data.

Coal volume, one of CN's major segments, climbed this year by 60pc. Metallic ores have been CN's busiest segment this year, but volume is down by 5pc compared with the same 23 weeks in 2021.

Shipments of petroleum products are up by 21pc, while grain volume has dropped by 20pc.

By Abby Caplan