An idle CN train is parked next to an empty Via Rail commuter station at Trenton, Ont. on Feb. 25, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

CN starts calling back laid-off employees

"Network recovery... will take several weeks"

Montreal | Reuters — Canadian National Railway has started calling back many of the 450 workers it laid off earlier this month in Eastern Canada, when blockades crippled operations on strategic rail lines, according to a company email sent to customers Friday. Earlier this week, police made 10 arrests and cleared a blockade in eastern […] Read more

File photo of young plants in a soybean field in Argentina. (Gracieross/iStock/Getty Images)

Argentina ag ministry suspends registration of exports

Buenos Aires | Reuters — Argentina’s ministry of agriculture suspended on Wednesday the registration of agricultural exports until further notice, it said in a statement, a move that traders said likely foreshadowed a steep increase in grains export tariffs. “When they close the registration, it’s because something is coming,” said agricultural consultant Nestor Roulet, secretary […] Read more



A demonstrator stands at a blockade on CN track west of Edmonton on Feb. 19, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Codie McLachlan)

Grain vessels backing up at West Coast

MarketsFarm — Vessels waiting to ship grain off Canada’s West Coast are backing up as blockades across the country slow rail traffic, according to reports tracking grain movement. Railway blockades have sprung up at a number of locations across the country over the past two weeks, as protestors express solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposing […] Read more



Farmers dump bags of corn grain in front of the Papineau riding office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal, as they protest the lack of propane due to the CN strike, on Nov. 25, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Christinne Muschi)

CN conductors approve post-strike deal

Canadian National Railway’s conductors and yard workers have voted for at least another two and a half years of labour peace with the company. The affected employees, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, voted 91.3 per cent to ratify a three-year contract with CN, retroactive to last July 23, the union said in a […] Read more


(PortOfThunderBay.com)

Thunder Bay wraps up active shipping season

MarketsFarm — The last cargo vessel of the year departed the Port of Thunder Bay on Sunday, bringing total cargo shipments through the facility to their highest level in half-a-decade. “Strong shipments of Prairie-grown grain and other dry bulk commodities from Western Canada buoyed the port’s cargo tonnage to 9.3 million metric tonnes, the highest […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

CN kicks off recovery after eight-day strike

Reuters –– Canadian National Railway on Thursday said it was putting a recovery plan in place while ramping up operations after the country’s biggest rail strike in a decade. The eight-day-long work stoppage at Canada’s largest railroad sent shocks through the country’s economy with grain and propane shipments scuttled. The strike by about 3,200 conductors […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Propane shortage looms as CN strike hits third day

Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — Shippers scrambled to shift freight onto trucks on Thursday as a strike at Canada’s biggest railroad, Canadian National Railway, hit its third day, leaving the critical fuel propane and other goods stranded. Some 3,200 unionized employees, including conductors and yard workers, hit picket lines on Tuesday in the biggest such action […] Read more

(TeamstersRail.ca)

CN conductors on strike

Unionized conductors, trainpersons and yard workers at Canadian National Railway are on strike as of Tuesday morning. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), whose CTY arm represents about 3,000 unionized CN staff, announced late Monday its members would stop work at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a deal with CN,” […] Read more