While the CP Rail work stoppage has businesses calling for back-to-work legislation, the Liberal government and opposition MPs avoided discussing the idea as they debated next steps in the House of Commons Monday.
In question period, Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu said the agriculture and automotive sectors are being affected by the work stoppage already.
“What is the government’s plan to immediately resolve this dispute?” she asked Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.
O’Regan acknowledged that the work stoppage is happening at a bad time, given the supply chain woes already affecting the Canadian economy. He said the ongoing negotiations are the best option to bring the dispute to an end.
“Every day that goes by, for farmers and manufacturers in this country particularly, is an hour or a day too long and I think that the parties at the table know that,” O’Regan said in the House.
“They have an enormous responsibility to Canadians to negotiate an agreement that protects supply chains that Canadians depend on. They are working hard. No one has left the table. Our party believes that the best deals are reached at the table.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters in Ottawa on Monday that employing back-to-work legislation in a “cavalier” way would undermine the right of workers to use the ability to strike to improve working conditions.
“The fact that it’s already something that’s being raised before workers have a chance to negotiate sends a message to employers that they don’t have to negotiate,” Singh said. “And that’s wrong.”
Locking out employees
CP Rail shut down Canadian operations Sunday after a work stoppage began just before midnight. More than 3,000 conductors, engineers, train and yard workers were picketing Sunday.
The company and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the union representing the workers, started negotiating a new contract last September. The union said the main issues are wages, pensions and aspects of working conditions — such as not forcing employees to take federally mandated reset days when they’re away from home.
Employees voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike March 3 and were in a legal strike position as of March 16 — the same day the company issued an ultimatum stating that a deal be would have to be reached by March 20 at midnight to prevent a lockout.
Federal mediators joined the talks March 11. Just before midnight Sunday, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said in a media statement that the company was locking employees out.
Rail workers picket in Regina on March 19, 2022 (CBC / Radio-Canada)
The company and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference blamed each other for causing the work stoppage, though both also said they were still talking with federal mediators.
Several industry groups have raised the alarm about the potential economic impacts of a CP Rail shutdown at a time when many businesses are dealing with supply chain difficulties caused by the pandemic, extreme weather in B.C. and the recent blockades of border crossings by protesters. That’s putting O’Regan under heavy pressure to legislate CP Rail workers back to work.
“We’re asking for all parties to find a very, very quick resolution,” said Brian Kingston, president and chief executive of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association.
“We appreciate the fact that they’re back at the table today … That said, if it becomes evident that there is simply no negotiated outcome possible, we would encourage the government to look at other options.”
Concerns about fertilizer shipments
Canada’s agriculture industry is particularly worried. On Monday, leaders of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the National Cattle Feeders’ Association were in Ottawa urging the government to bring an end to the work stoppage they said could devastate their industry.
“If these trains don’t run, we’ve got maybe two weeks of feed left,” said Cattlemen’s Association president Bob Lowe. He said western Canadian cattle producers have been relying on shipments of feed by rail from the U.S. this year in the wake of last summer’s drought and resultant widespread feed shortage.
“There is no Plan B. We have no other source of feed.”
“We are, in Canada, about four to six weeks from seeding season … which means that farmers may not get all the fertilizer they need,” said Fertilizer Canada chief executive Karen Proud.
Proud said a fertilizer shortage could cause food prices to spike, given the impact the war in Ukraine has had already on global fertilizer supplies and the prices of wheat and other grains.
Canadian fertilizer companies like Nutrien rely on rail to get their product to market. Fertilizer Canada chief executive Karen Proud says the industry wants to see back-to-work legislation. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)
Proud said the fertilizer industry believes it’s time to introduce back-to-work legislation.
“We certainly respect the collective bargaining process but clearly these two groups haven’t been able to reach an agreement. And now the government needs to act immediately,” she said.
“Some of our members who produce fertilizer don’t have the storage capacity if product isn’t being shipped out on the rails, so we’re looking at being days away from potentially having to shut down our production of fertilizer.”
Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, said U.S. lawmakers and counterparts — including White House officials — have been worried for weeks about a possible labour dispute.
“I expect to hear a lot about it,” Hyder said, ten days after an earlier visit to Capitol Hill during which he heard similar concerns.
“There’s a genuine risk here of Canada being seen as unreliable at a time when reliability is most valued and needed.”
The damage to Canada’s reputation could be lasting, coming as it does on the heels of last month’s week-long shutdown of the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ont., he added.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
