The railway strike storm swept across Canada, and international logistics and transportation were in trouble!
Date：2024-05-11 13:58:00 View：
Canadian Railways
Strike! Strike! Strike!
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After the TeamstersCanadaRail Conference, which represents Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC) in wage negotiations, voted in favor of strike authorization, more than 9,000 employees of the two companies can go on strike as early as May 22. Many customers have contacted our company to communicate the corresponding Canadian terminal clearance and delivery plan.
At present, our company has launched an emergency plan. In addition to helping many customers apply for CN's ERS emergency service, we have also communicated with the local ports in Vancouver, Canadian Railways (CN), container companies at Vancouver ports, and several major truck companies in Canada, so that in extreme cases, we can give priority to the transportation of our customers' goods.
If the two major Canadian railway companies stop operating at the same time, major Canadian ports such as Vancouver, Montreal, Halifax and St. John's in Nova Scotia will be blocked by containers and unable to operate normally. Canada's export products such as wood, potash fertilizer, coal and iron ore will have nowhere to go. Factories and mines will be closed and workers will be laid off. The suspension will also cause the transportation of key commodities such as urban water and gasoline to stagnate and may endanger the safety of residents. Therefore, Canadian Labor Minister Seamus O'Regan urgently asked the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CRIB) yesterday to intervene to study and review whether the railway workers' strike will endanger the health and safety of Canadians. This adds new uncertainties to potential strike actions, which means that possible strikes on Canada's two major railways will be postponed.
Under the Canada Labour Act, the minister can ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to intervene to determine which rail operations must continue during a strike or lockout and to prohibit the parties from commencing a strike or lockout until the board makes a decision. It is unclear how long it will take the board to make a decision, but it is highly unlikely that such a decision will be made before May 22.
Following emergency intervention by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, Canadian Railways (CN), the current employer, stated that the current uncertainty surrounding labor disruptions for employees, customers and Canadians who rely on the railway for daily necessities must be resolved as soon as possible.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPKC), one of the parties to the strike, also believes that these issues need to be resolved in a timely manner to provide certainty for the Canadian economy and the North American supply chain. "Our supply chain needs stability now more than ever," said spokesman Patrick Waldron.
After pausing negotiations this week, the two sides will return to talks next week.
Our company is a customs clearance agency directly under Vancouver Customs. We will closely monitor the development of the situation and inform our customers of the relevant developments as soon as possible so as to better serve them and avoid losses.