ILA and Canada Rail Update

WSSA continues to monitor the situation in Canada and the USA East Coast as strike dates get closer.

In Canada, the railroads are already limiting the type of cargo they accept and refusing to move any additional refrigerated or hazardous cargo. The Journal of Commerce reported today that Canada’s labor minister “will not force binding arbitration between Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and their main union”. As of now, there is nothing to stop the lockout on August 22nd and a shutdown of the Canadian rail system. Canadian rail disruption will have a ripple effect into the USA due to both interconnectivity of the rail systems and the usage of Canadian ports and rail system to get cargo into certain USA regions, such as the Midwest.

In the USA, there are mixed predictions about the potential ILA strike that could commence on October 1st. Maersk Global CEO Vincent Clerc states that he believes a strike is “highly unlikely”, while Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen stated that a strike is “the wildcard” in a shipping environment that is already under pressure. 

The latest statement from USMX on August 9th indicated that the “latest proposal would provide industry-leading wage increases, boost employer retirement contributions, offer new employees higher starting wages” and more, while the ILA leadership’s comments indicate that the two sides remain very far apart.  

Alan Murphy, CEO of industry analyst firm Sea-Intelligence stated “It would take six days to clear the backlog from a one-day strike. If we get a 2-week strike, then realistically, the ports would not be back to normal operations until we are into 2025”.

Both strike threats need to be taken seriously. Please contact WSSA should you want more information on either of these issues or to review contingency planning

*photo credit SherSS/Shuttershock.com/JOC