Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW) hours before a strike was scheduled to kick off.
The IBEW — which represents 750 signals and communications workers — had issued a 72-hour strike notice on January 25, before reaching a tentative four-year collective bargaining agreement with CN Rail on January 28, the day the strike was scheduled to begin. The day before, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) also agreed to a tentative deal with Unifor, which represents 1,200 CPKC mechanics, diesel service attendants and mechanical support staff. Neither CPKC nor CN Rail have released details on either agreement, pending final ratification from the unions.
The two railways were previously shut down in August 2024, in a labor dispute involving the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). That stoppage was ended after Canada’s labor board imposed binding arbitration and ordered an end to twin lockouts at CN Rail and CPKC. Since then, TCRC has called on federal leaders to stay out of the collective bargaining process, while accusing railways of negotiating in “bad faith.” To date, TCRC has yet to reach a new agreement with either railway.
