Union Pacific Prepares for Possible Rail Strike in Canada

Announcement Number: CN2012-19
Categories: General Announcements
Posted Date: May 22, 2012

To Our Customers,

Union Pacific is making preparations to modify rail operations to and from Canada this week, based on a 72-hour strike notice issued to Canadian Pacific (CP) over the weekend by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). CP has been involved in labor negotiations with the TCRC, which represents CP's 4,800 locomotive engineers, conductors and rail traffic controllers in Canada, since last October. While the parties continue to meet with the assistance of the federal mediator and conciliator service to resolve the labor dispute, the 72-hour notice issued by the union means a work stoppage can occur as early as 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, May 23, 2012.

Following the issuance of the strike notice by the union, CP announced it will begin preparations for the safe and structured shut down of freight and commuter train operations on its Canadian network to coincide with the start of a work stoppage. CP has issued a series of embargoes that would impact all shipments to and from the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Québec. The embargoes would only go into effect in the event a work stoppage occurs.

We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

If you have any questions please contact your Union Pacific representative.