Canadian Rail Engineers Begin a Strike

OTTAWA — About 1,700 locomotive engineers with the Canadian National Railway went on strike early Saturday morning. The walkout, which may create difficulties for manufacturers and resource companies, followed a decision by Canadian National to impose a new contract on its workers.

Although the strike does not involve engineers for Canadian National’s operations in the United States, it may nevertheless cause problems in both countries. Some American imports from Asia and Europe land at Canadian ports and then are moved to the United States on Canadian National trains.

The railroad, based in Montreal, said in a statement that it would try to maintain service by using managers to operate trains. Given the scale of the walkout, however, it was not clear whether that would be possible.

Automobile manufacturers in Ontario are particularly dependent on Canadian National both for parts shipments and for delivering cars, most of which are destined for the United States. In Western Canada, the strike will make it difficult, if not impossible, for many farmers to ship grain to ports in British Columbia.

After 14 months of labor negotiations came to an impasse, Canadian National imposed a new contract last Monday. According to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the railroad wants to increase its members’ wages by 1.5 percent in the contract’s first year. But it would also impose a 500-mile increase in the distance engineers are required to cover each month.


for full article see link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/business/global/29canadian.html?_r=1&ref=business