Rail workers rally for better working conditions in Montreal as labour dispute halts trains

Rail workers gathered outside the Canadian National Railway (CN) headquarters in Montreal after negotiations between the Teamsters workers' union and CN as well as Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) collapsed. 

Workers would have gone into work today had the rail companies not imposed a lockout Thursday night, public affairs director for Teamsters Canada Christopher Monette told Radio-Canada's Tout un matin. The union had issued a strike notice to CPKC after the former had already sent its lockout notice earlier in August, he said.

Negotiations had been ongoing for nine months over wages, benefits and scheduling issues.

"You're on call basically 24/7," said Monette. "When you get the call, you have two hours to get to work and you don't know if you'll be back that same day, the next day or in two days."

He says members give over 80 hours weekly to their employers taking into account wait times and time spent in dormitories.

CN made its fifth offer over nine months before Wednesday's midnight deadline but it was ultimately refused by the Teamsters. The offer proposed hourly rates — workers are currently paid by the mile — scheduled shifts as well as higher wages.

"It's good for the economy, it's good for the employees. The only people who seem to not want it is the Teamsters," said CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis.

Teamsters president François Laporte says they're ready to return to the bargaining table at any time.

"We don't want to see another Lac-Mégantic accident. We want people who operate the train — people who are not fatigued," he said. "In Montreal, downtown, for example, and everywhere across the country [you] see trains passing by carrying chemical products, energy, oil."

Abecassis says that safety is a core value for the company adding that the Teamsters' demands have largely been around wages. He says the union has not been engaging in the negotiations seriously and had only presented a "reasonable" offer last weekend.

He says CN also remains at the table and that negotiations are ongoing today. 

The labour stoppage has already been causing headaches for commuters and will have larger ripple effects on the distribution of goods. The rail companies haul a combined $1 billion worth of goods each day, according to the Railway Association of Canada.

The Montreal Port Authority says 45 per cent of the goods moving through the port use one of the two rail networks. There will likely be more trucks coming into the port in the following days to keep the merchandise moving, says port spokesperson Mélanie Nadeau.

She said the port was able to divert goods from rail in anticipation of the lockout. CN has also moved refrigerated goods and dangerous chemicals from its rails.