'A progressive shutdown of our Eastern Canadian operations is the responsible approach to take for the safety of our employees and the protestors'
Canadian National Railway (CN) is shutting down its Eastern Canadian Network of trains and may temporarily lay off employees in the face of continued railway blockades in different parts of the country.
The announcement came after more than 400 trains were cancelled the first week of February after protests in support of pipeline opposition on a northern British Columbia First Nation. New protests are also emerging in different parts of the trains’ mainline.
“We have decided that a progressive shutdown of our Eastern Canadian operations is the responsible approach to take for the safety of our employees and the protestors,” says JJ Ruest, president and CEO of CN. “This situation is regrettable for its impact on the economy and on our railroaders as these protests are unrelated to CN's activities, and beyond our control.”
Intercity Via Rail service will be discontinued, but Metrolinx and Exo will keep on operating “so long as they can do so safely,” says Ruest, and CN will resume full operations “when the illegal blockades end completely.”
In November, about 3,200 CN conductors, trainpersons and yard workers went on strike after the labour union Teamsters Canada and the company failed to reach a deal regarding working conditions for the company’s employees. They reached a tentative agreement later that month.
