Canadian Railroads Brace for Possible Work Stoppage Starting Aug. 22
With the Aug. 9 Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) decision that none of the services provided by the two Canadian railways—CN and CPKC—are essential by law, no rail services are required to be maintained in the event of a work stoppage involving the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). The earliest possible date of a work stoppage is now Aug. 22 at 12 a.m. ET, and CN and CPKC are preparing their operations for ceased services.
In addition to the embargoes on Rail Security-Sensitive Materials (RSSM), Poison Inhalation Hazard (PIH) – Toxic Inhalation Hazard (TIH) and Time-Sensitive commodities issued on Aug. 12, CN announced a staggered schedule of embargoes for other freight handled by its network:
- All temperature-controlled intermodal traffic, effective Aug. 15. (Exact timing is dependent on origin and destination.)
- All hazmat traffic, effective Aug. 15. (Exact timing is dependent on origin and destination.)
- All intermodal traffic destined to all points in Canada from U.S. origins or U.S. interchange, effective Aug. 16 at midnight ET.
- All U.S. to U.S. Intermodal shipments will continue to move per normal operations.
You can also find CN’s embargo schedule, as well as intermodal origin/destination timing, here.
“If a settlement is reached, or an arbitration process is established, we will remove embargoes and resume normal operations,” CN said in a statement.
No work stoppage planning schedule has been made available by CPKC at this time, but check the railroad’s website for updates here.
Source: NCBFAA
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