12:01 AM EDT on August 22, after negotiations that began last year failed to bring about a resolution to the dispute, CN and CPKC announced at that they would lockout their employees who are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). The move affects roughly 9,000 employees at the two companies.
There is skepticism in the trade towards the latest numbers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and those to come from Statistics Canada on Aug. 28, according to broker Ken Ball of Ventum Financial in Winnipeg.
Corn and wheat prices at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were mostly steady during the week ended Aug. 21, while those for soybeans started to move upward.
Deadline for lockout set by Canada's major railways expires just after midnight tonight, and the reality of what that means to the agriculture sector is settling in.
Senators Rob Black and Mary Robinson urged federal ministers to intervene to prevent a rail strike or lockout according to a letter posted to social media this morning.
As Canada braced for a freight rail stoppage that could hit industries ranging from autos to agriculture, the trucking sector said it faced higher demand it could not meet.
Nearly three dozen North American agriculture groups, in a joint letter to the U.S. and Canadian governments today, urged action to avoid a rail stoppage.
Canada's two main railway companies and the Teamsters union must do the hard work necessary to reach labor deals and avoid a full stoppage, federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon said on Monday.