The union, which represents about 1,200 workers at CPKC, said 99 per cent of its members voted to authorize a strike.

CPKC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The union, which had initiated contract negotiations with the company in October, said it is pushing for job security, fair compensation and improved working conditions at CPKC.

Unifor added it will hold talks with CPKC from Jan. 24 to Jan. 29.

—Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru

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Russia/Ukraine – The conflict moved through its third year with no end in sight. Attacks on grain handling facilities, difficulties shipping through the Black Sea and shifting production estimates out of both countries were followed closely by traders. 

Middle East – The Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza sparked wider disputes across the region. Resulting turmoil in energy markets was also felt in the grains and oilseeds, while trade through the Red Sea and Suez Canal was hampered.
 
Panama Canal – Low water levels at the Panama Canal created additional headaches for global grain movement in 2024, although that congestion eventually started to clear up.
 
Labour disputes – Labour unrest was a feature of the Canadian grain trade in 2024, with strikes and/or lockouts at both coasts and at both major railways.
 
China – China began an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian canola in the fall. The country remains the largest export customer heading into the New Year, but the threat of another trade dispute between the two countries remains ever present.

Trump – Trump’s new administration is bound to generate headlines through 2025, but his proposed policies were already riling up the ag markets ahead of his inauguration. Most notably, import tariffs and resulting retaliation could dramatically alter international trade flows.

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On Saturday, the board accepted a request from the government to order more than 9,000 Teamsters members back to work at Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City and to impose binding arbitration.

The union had already said it would appeal the rulings on the grounds that they were a win for the railways and could lead to the imposition of future contracts, eroding workers’ bargaining power.

“These decisions, if left unchallenged, set a dangerous precedent where a single politician can bust a union at will,” said Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters rail union.

“The right to collectively bargain is a constitutional guarantee. Without it, unions lose leverage to negotiate better wages and safer working conditions for all Canadians,” he said in a statement. The union filed the challenges in the Federal Court of Appeal and asked that the proceedings be expedited. However Canada’s justice system is famously slow-moving and whoever loses the appeal is likely to take it to the Supreme Court, which means the case could take years to resolve.

There was no immediate reaction from either rail company or from federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon. He has already said he is confident his decision to refer the matter to the board would survive a court challenge given his broad power under Canada’s labour code.

Government officials say the challenge is separate from the board’s ruling and will not affect the return to work.

The two companies locked out the workers earlier this month after talks failed to produce a new labour deal.

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“We are seeing feed prices start to creep up. I think it’s because of the rail disruptions and stuff like that,” Leclerc commented. ”There definitely are some market opportunities to take advantage of right now.”

There was a brief period of chaos among Canada’s two largest railways after they locked out approximately 9,300 union members. In turn the union issued strike notices, but the Canada Industrial Relations Board imposed binding arbitration to resolve the labour dispute.

Leclerc said November-December pricing is 30 cents per bushel more than prices for September-October.

“Who knows what the markets will bring next week,” she pondered.

She quoted feed barley for September-October at C$4.80/bu. delivered in the Edmonton area, with that for November-December at C$5/bu.

As for feed wheat, Leclerc placed it at C$7 per bushel picked up in the yard in the Red Deer/Edmonton area, with number one wheat at C$7/bu. delivered.

“The feed wheat markets is a little more aggressive than the number one market,” she said.

When it came to the province’s grain harvest, Leclerc stated “We are seeing a lot of pockets of lightweight grain in Alberta. The monster crop everyone was anticipating seems to be very patchy.”

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Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, also said the union would work with other labour groups as it mounts a legal challenge to a Saturday decision that halted work stoppages at the country’s two largest railways and imposed arbitration.

While the Teamsters will obey the order to return to work, the union has warned it could lead to the imposition of future contracts, eroding workers’ bargaining power. The decision comes as Air Canada pilots press for a new contract and can commence job action as early as mid-September if there is no agreement with the country’s largest carrier.

Air Canada said on Sunday its intent is to reach a negotiated settlement with the pilots over the coming weeks.

“Any federally regulated company, it’s a win for them at this point,” Boucher told Reuters in his first interview since the Thursday lockout. “This is disastrous for labour, for workers.”

The Canada Industrial Relations Board made the decision after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon asked it on Thursday to end an impasse in separate talks between the Teamsters, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

The dispute, which triggered a first-ever lockout of Teamsters workers on Thursday at both freight rail carriers, led to unprecedented disruptions that threatened to hammer Canada’s export-driven economy, leading agricultural businesses to plead for relief.

Tim Perry, president of the Air Line Pilots Association Canada, which represents Air Canada pilots, said the union is concerned.

“The new Minister of Labour does not trust the Canadian laws governing collective bargaining, nor does the government he represents respect the constitutional rights of workers,” Perry said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Canada’s labour minister declined to comment on whether the decision to impose binding arbitration on railways would serve as a precedent in other sectors, including aviation.

CN has said the company would have preferred a negotiated agreement but was satisfied that the labour stoppage is over. Spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis said on Sunday that CN tried to get an agreement for nine months and made five offers that would have improved wages and working conditions but the union did not engage. A CP spokesperson said it regretted that the government had to intervene and fundamentally believes in and respects collective bargaining.

Both railways have said they are focused on restoring service, with the Teamsters calling off a CN strike on Monday but planning to appeal the decision in federal court.

Other unions could participate in court and support the Teamsters, Boucher said.

“This historical moment is so extremely important that labour needs to get involved and they will,” he said.

The 58-year-old Boucher, who once worked as a CN locomotive engineer, has been bargaining with CN out of a second-floor conference room at a downtown Montreal hotel.

The Teamsters union disagreed with CN and CP over scheduling, shift duration and availability. CN, for example, wants employees to work up to 12-hour shifts, compared with 10 hours in the current agreement, a move opposed by the union.

Boucher said he has been in contact with the union representing more than 5,400 Air Canada pilots who approved a strike mandate last week.

“We’re going to be calling on all labour across Canada to join our fight and take this all the way,” he said.

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The independent labour tribunal made the decision after Canada asked it on Thursday to end an impasse in separate talks between more than 9,000 Teamsters members, and Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City.

The Teamsters said in a statement that workers’ rights were “significantly diminished” with the ruling and that it would appeal in federal court.

The board’s decisions are the latest twist in the labour disputes at CN and CPKC, which locked out Teamsters members on Thursday, triggering a simultaneous rail stoppage that business groups said could inflict hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damage.

Canadian Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said on social media site X that he expects “railway companies and employees will resume operations at the earliest opportunity.”

The decision will restart railway operations at CPKC where workers had been both locked out and on strike, by 00:01 ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, the railway said in a statement.

A Teamsters spokesperson said workers would not come back earlier, despite CPKC’s request for employees to return on Sunday.

“We anticipate it will take several weeks for the railway network to fully recover from this work stoppage and a period of time beyond that for supply chains to stabilize,” CPKC said.

The labour board’s decision averted a planned strike on Monday by locomotive engineers, conductors and other workers at Montreal-based CN just days after Canada’s largest railway ended a lockout and began restoring service. The Teamsters confirmed its CN workers would not strike on Monday after the CIRB decision.

Along with ordering an end to the stoppage, the board implemented government requests to impose binding arbitration on the parties to reach new deals and to impose a continuation of the existing contracts until new agreements are reached.

“This decision by the CIRB sets a dangerous precedent,” said Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. “It signals to corporate Canada that large companies need only stop their operations for a few hours, inflict short-term economic pain, and the federal government will step in to break a union.”

A CN spokesperson said the company would have preferred a negotiated agreement, but “we are satisfied that this puts an end to the labour stoppage.”

The disruption could have drastically affected farmers and agriculture companies in both Canada and the United States.

Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association, which represents grain companies, said they had urged the government for weeks to refer the matter to the CIRB.

“It means that the government has really listened to what Canadians were telling them,” he said. “We can’t take a self-inflicted wound on the economy.”

Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the U.S. Soy Transportation Coalition said the Canadian government had to intervene to help farmers who rely on seamless cross-border trade.

“We have not taken a side between railroads and railroad workers,” Steenhoek said. “However, we are on the side of the American farmer.”

On Thursday, MacKinnon, said his decision to refer the matter to the CIRB would survive a court challenge given his broad power under the country’s labour code.

The Teamsters union wants its members’ working conditions and pay to be determined by bargaining, despite disputes with CN and CP over scheduling, shift duration and availability. CN, for example, wants employees to work up to 12-hour shifts, compared with 10 hours in the current agreement, a move opposed by the union.

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Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City failed to reach an agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference by the deadline of midnight Aug. 22. As a result, traffic on both railways was halted simultaneously for the first time ever. Later that day, Canadian Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon announced he sent the dispute to binding arbitration and ordered operations at CN Rail to resume as soon as possible.

The Canadian Grain Commission reported 316,100 tonnes of wheat export sales during the week ended Aug. 18, compared to 528,000 the week before. The total for the first two weeks of the 2024-25 marketing year at 841,100 tonnes exceeded the total from one year ago at 624,100 tonnes.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported a total of 492,700 tonnes of wheat sold for export during the week ended Aug. 15, a five-week high and at the higher end of trade expectations.

Spring wheat conditions in the U.S. were up one point from the previous week at 73 per cent good to excellent as of Aug. 18, according to the USDA. The country’s spring wheat harvest was 31 per cent complete, behind the historical average of 36 per cent, while the winter wheat harvest was 96 per cent complete.

Canadian Western Red Spring (CWRS) dropped C$5.70 to C$16.30 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and Data Quotes). Average prices were between C$233.40/tonne in southeast Saskatchewan to C$259.10 in southern Alberta.

Quoted basis levels ranged from between C$24.60 to C$50.30/tonne above the futures when using the grain company methodology of quoting the basis as the difference between the U.S. dollar denominated futures and the Canadian dollar cash bids.

Accounting for exchange rates and adjusting Canadian prices to U.S. dollars (C$1=US$0.7352), CWRS bids were from US$171.60 to US$190.50/tonne. Currency adjusted basis levels ranged from US$18.30 to US$37.20 below the futures. If the futures were converted to Canadian dollars, basis levels would be C$13.50 to C$27.40 below the futures.

Meanwhile, Canadian Prairie Red Spring (CPRS) prices were down C$9.80 to C$12.90 per tonne. The lowest average bid for CPRS was C$199.90 in southeast Saskatchewan, while the highest average bid was C$226.10 in southern Alberta.

The average prices for Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) were down C$0.60 to up C$2.90 per tonne with bids between C$286.60 in northwest Saskatchewan to C$298.90 in western Manitoba.

The September spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, which most CWRS contracts are based off of, was quoted at US$5.6825 per bushel on Aug. 22 and 18 U.S. cents lower than the previous week.

The Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures, which are now traded in Chicago, are more closely linked to CPSR in Canada. The September contract was quoted at US$5.2925/bu., down 7.75 U.S. cents.

The September Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat contract lost 17.25 U.S. cents from the previous week at US$5.11/bu.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.61 of a U.S. cent to close at 73.52 cents U.S. by Aug. 22.

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At risk are more than 20 bulk cargo ships at or bound for British Columbia ports as in-port grain stocks represent just a fraction of what is scheduled to load over the coming weeks, according to shipping industry and government data.

Exporters in the world’s top canola producer and No. 3 wheat shipper could rack up vessel demurrage penalties totaling tens of thousands of dollars a day if ships sit idle waiting for supplies, analysts said.

Although workers at Canadian National Railway returned to work on Friday, their union said they will strike on Monday and challenge the constitutionality of the government’s move to end the shutdown. Canadian Pacific Kansas City has yet to lift its lockout.

Thursday’s stoppage marked the first time both railroads had shut down simultaneously.

“The rail situation in Canada remains very fluid and uncertain,” Mike Steenhoek, executive director at the U.S.-based Soy Transportation Coalition said in a statement.

Rail delays threaten the flow of grain from Canada’s prairies to export terminals just as farmers begin to harvest their crops.

If disruptions persist, sales booked for loading in the autumn are also at risk of being canceled.

“(Exporters) could try to declare force majeure and go into arbitration … or they can rack up the demurrage charges,” said independent analyst Wayne Palmer.

There were 20 bulk vessels anchored near or en route to Port of Vancouver as of Aug. 19, earmarked for loading with 638,900 metric tons of canola and 428,200 tons of milling wheat, according to vessel lineup data seen by Reuters.

Most of the canola was due to be shipped to China, while the wheat was slated for various destinations in Asia, South America and Africa, the data showed.

However, the commitments far exceeded commercial stocks in Vancouver of 217,500 tons of canola and 216,100 tons of wheat as of Aug. 11, according to the latest data available from Statistics Canada.

Vessel-lineup data identified another two vessels bound for Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to be loaded with 134,200 tons of wheat. Wheat stocks there were just 11,900 tons, StatsCan data showed.

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The Teamsters union filed notice that conductors, locomotive engineers and other workers at Montreal-based CN would strike on Monday, just days after returning to work on Friday.

A Canadian government official had no immediate comment.

A CN spokesperson said trains were starting to run and the company’s plan to resume operations was under way.

“We are focused on getting back to work,” said Jonathan Abecassis, CN’s spokesperson. “The Teamsters are focused on getting back to the picket line.”

The looming strike is the latest twist in a labor dispute at Canada’s top two railroads, which locked out more than 9,000 unionized workers on Thursday, triggering a simultaneous rail stoppage that business groups said could inflict hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damage.

A lockout at rival Canadian Pacific Kansas City has yet to be officially lifted after the Canadian government moved on Thursday to end the rail stoppage, which for the first time involved both railways simultaneously.

The dispute led Canada’s Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to issue a back-to-work order. Union and railroad officials met with the CIRB, an independent body, on Friday morning, the Teamsters said on social media site X.

Teamsters spokesperson Chris Monette said by phone earlier in the day that the union would challenge the constitutionality of the minister’s referral, without giving details.

Monette said CN workers would return to work on Friday, although the union had not received any back-to-work protocol from the railway.

“The return to work will be chaotic this morning,” he said.

Monette said members from CPKC would not be back at work as the railway had not yet ended its lockout.

CPKC said late on Thursday that it was preparing to restart operations in Canada and that further details on timing would be provided once it received the CIRB’s order.

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This comes after the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC)  said this morning that workers at Canadian National (CN) would be headed back to work today.

In the notice, the union said it did not believe contact issues were insurmountable and was available for discussion.

The union said this morning that workers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) will remain off the job “pending an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).”

“Despite the Labour Minister’s referral, there is no clear indication that the CIRB will actually order an end to the labour dispute at CPKC,” the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said in a statement this morning.

Yesterday afternoon, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon called a news conference to announce he would be forcing the Teamsters and railways into binding arbitration to bring an end to the lockout, which had begun earlier that day.

He told reporters he hoped railways would be running again within days, however it was the CIRB’s purview to call the shots.

Late Thursday, CPKC released a statement saying they were “disappointed” by what they called the Teamsters’ refusal to discuss resumption of service, and said they’d be meeting again Friday morning.

The railway said the union planned to challenge the constitutionality of MacKinnon’s direction. The Teamsters indicated on social media platform X that they were “consulting with legal counsel to determine the next steps,” but did not elaborate in this morning’s statement.

They issued a media notice for a rally outside CPKC headquarters in Calgary this morning.

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