Canadian Rail Work Stop Brought to an End by Canadian Government

The Canadian Government has stepped in on the shutdown of the Canadian Rail work stoppage. Here is what we know:

• Initial analysis of the situation indicated that the Canadian government would keep out of negotations & not force action. However, due to the severity of the situation, the Canadian Labor Minister has ordered the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to assist both railroads reach an agreement with the Teamsters Union.

• At the time of this report, the CIRB has not issued a formal "back-to-work" order, but Canadian National (CN) restarted their recovery process at on Thursday, August 22 immediately following the news that the CIRB would be stepping in.

• The work stoppage only lasted 18 hours, but "restarting work" is not an instantaneous process. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) was still in the preparation stages to resume operations and waiting for a formal declaration of "back-to-work" from the CIRB.

• Rail is still expected to be slow as both major railroads respond to the informal directive to resume work and the unions in both Canada and US navigate how to resume operations.

• Lasting effects of the week long preparations and 17 hour work stop are anticipated to last at least a week if not longer. It will take time to see what aspects have been affected the most and are the slowest to resume.

• Please reach out to your Freight Manager if you have any questions or concerns about how this affects your project.