CP Rail work stoppage enters Day 2 in Sudbury as supply chain fears grow

It could be some time before train 119 moves again. Parked outside the former City of Sudbury, the train, like other locomotives, ground to a halt with the work stoppage at CP Rail.

Canadian Pacific Rail and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference say there are a number of sticking points between the two organizations.

In Sudbury, Teamsters Division 308 Chair John Blythe said the picket line is the last place they want to be.

"We're on the line," said Blyth. "We're trying to make (people) aware of some of the key things we're trying to negotiate. We're dealing with pension, wages and what the company set out as 'efficiency testing.'"

He that testing has become a way to penalize employees, giving them time off without mentoring them instead. Blyth said there was a long-time mentoring system in place beforehand.

Federally mandated rest days are also a sticking point and how employees are being forced to take those days away from home.

"It's been proven that you don't get the rest properly at your away-from-home terminal," Blyth said.

"You're not in your own personal setting, it's not your bed … I have to say the away-from-home terminals, I did work mainline for a bit, they do have kitchens, your individual rooms and everything else. But let's just face it -- you know yourself even being at a hotel or something, you don't sleep the same way that you do if you're at home."

For its part, officials at Canadian Pacific are calling it a strike and said it was employees who walked off the job.

In a statement to the media, the rail giant writes in part:

"This is clearly a failure of the TCRC negotiating committee’s responsibility to negotiate in good faith. The company will be reviewing avenues to have this egregious behaviour properly addressed."

The federal government has so far resisted the urge to step in, although Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan remains in Calgary until both sides come to a solution.

Mining Association of Canada president Pierre Gratton said the federal government needed to intervene yesterday.

"We knew this was coming, we've been trying to press the government to act," said Gratton.

"We cannot afford this at this time, this is like the sixth or seventh supply chain interruption just in the last five years. Canada's reputation is frankly going down the tubes."

Gratton said with all the stoppages and natural disasters, demand for critical minerals is up and the world is looking to places in Canada for a reliable supply. He said the work stoppage, along with previous blockades at the border, is not helping the country's reputation.

"Get this done," he said. "We can't afford an interruption at this time. The fact that we have one is terrible."

The association said mining is the single largest industrial customer group for the two rail companies.

His comments come on the heels of a report that predict the GDP around mining will grow 25 per cent by the year 2025 due to things like an increase in demand and global uncertainty.

CTV News reached out to mining giants Vale and Glencore in the Sudbury area to inquire about its shipping issues.

Vale responded and said it has made some contingency plans as a result of the work stoppage. It's continuing to monitor the situation and is hoping both sides can come to a quick resolution. 

And in a statement, Glencore said, in part:

"The current labour conflict at CP Rail represents a major risk to our business activities, interrupting the flow of materials that ensure our competitiveness and ability to carry on operating. It would also exacerbate supply chain issues for our suppliers of feeds and could also impact their ability to operate."