Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) is preparing for the possibility of a strike by some 3,300 workers next month.
“From my point of view, the positions haven’t changed much,” President and CEO Keith Creel told analysts on a conference call Wednesday. Obviously, you have to hope for the best, but you also have to make sure to plan for the worst. »
The potential work stoppage may explain the company’s rather cautious forecast, which expects a slight increase in freight volumes this year.
“If the strike is not as long as we might think – or if we don’t have a strike at all – then of course we have an advantage,” Creel said.
With 6,000 Canadian National (CN) workers also in talks with their employers, there is a possibility of two railway work stoppages this spring, which combined could paralyze virtually all freight rail traffic in Canada.
In February, the CPKC and CN asked the federal Minister of Labor to appoint a conciliator for the process of negotiating a new collective agreement for conductors, engineers and yard workers. The notice of dispute began the legal process toward a possible strike or lockout, which could occur as early as May 22.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference says safety is at stake, saying the country’s two major railways aim to eliminate “all rest provisions” from their collective agreements.
“To be very clear, that’s simply not true,” Patrick Whitehead, CN’s chief network operating officer, said Tuesday.
Mr. Creel argued that Canadian Pacific had offered workers a “win-win scenario.”
“But we need change. It takes leaders willing to see the wisdom and benefits. And at this point, that hasn’t happened,” he said.
On Wednesday, CPKC reported a decline in first-quarter profits compared to last year.
The Calgary-based railway company reported net income attributable to majority shareholders of $775 million, or 83 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31.
That’s down from earnings of $800 million, or 86 cents per diluted share, a year earlier.
Canadian Pacific completed the acquisition of Kansas City Southern in December 2021, but had to wait to consolidate its operations until April 2023, after regulatory approval of the deal.
CPKC says revenues for its first quarter totaled 3.52 billion, compared to 2.27 billion at the same time last year, before the consolidation of railway companies’ operations.
The company says its diluted adjusted basic earnings per share rose to 93 cents in its most recent quarter, up from 90 cents a year earlier.
reference: www.lapresse.ca