Labor Rattling

Railroad Weekly September 9, 2024

courtesy: Steel Wheels Photography

Inside This Issue

·   Labor Rattling: First, Canadian Teamster Drama; U.S. Port Workers Next?     

·   Lockout Punch: Canada’s Rail Stoppage Ends with Federal Ruling

·   Let Someone Else Decide: Ottawa Says Arbitrator Will Rule on Teamster Pay

·   Early Pay Day: CSX, NS, BN Hike Wages in Advance of National Talks

·   Fall Hands on Deck: RRs Ready for a Busy September

·   Primus Unveiled: How Railroad-Unfriendly Will the New STB Chair Be?

·   Show How You’ll Grow: STB Growth Hearings Coming Soon

·   Go Shorty: BNSF Steps up Cooperative Efforts with Shortlines

Track Talk

“Today, Canada’s freight railways carry more than $380b [CAD] worth of goods each year, including half of Canada’s exports. They support trade and growth. They get tens of millions of passengers where they need to go – safely, reliably, and environmentally soundly. And none of this is possible without the more than 35,000 railroaders who power our railways forward, 24/7/365. Bottom line: we need our railways healthy and strong.”

      -Railway Association of Canada CEO Marc Brazeau

The Latest

·   Hard to believe, but we’re just a few weeks away from the final quarter of 2024. Make no mistake: The first two-plus quarters of the year haven’t been easy on North America’s railroads. Yes, they as usual earned healthy profits, underpinned by numerous well-performing sectors (i.e., chemicals, energy, agriculture, autos, export met coal), plus improving labor productivity, new business wins, and so on. At the same time, optimism built on tailwinds like nearshoring, industrial investment, green economy freight, technology investment, new Class I partnerships, and shortline acquisitions hasn’t diminished. All true. BUT… railroad efforts to grow this year have been severely challenged by plunging coal volumes, especially in the west. Intermodal volumes growth has not been a problem—on the contrary, it’s growing bullishly. But intermodal pricing remains weak. Steel markets are weak. Housing construction is still weak. And the overall U.S. economy, though healthy, is clearly softening. The obstacles are even greater in Canada, where economic woes run deeper. But most painful there was a severe bout of summertime labor unrest—unrest involving BOTH Canadian National and CPKC.  

Canada’s Late Summer Rail Shutdown

·   Throughout the spring and summer, rail shippers worried about stalled contract negotiations between Canada’s two major railroads—CN and CPKC—and their train workers, specifically engineers and conductors represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). A work stoppage was initially postponed this spring as a government board studied the potential impact. But with an agreement still unachieved by a new August 22^nd deadline, both railroads declared an employee lockout. Several days in advance, steps were taken to shut down operations in phases. At the same time, CPKC workers began a strike. A feeling of economic crisis deepened.

·   What happened next? Less than a full day later, Canada’s Labour Minister Steven