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St. Lawrence Seaway workers strike over wages, halt flow of goods on major trade artery

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A container ship is loaded in the Port of Montreal on Sept. 19. A strike by 361 unionized workers forced the massive the St. Lawrence Seaway to close on Sunday.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press

Shipping through the St. Lawrence Seaway shut down Sunday, as a strike by 361 unionized workers forced the massive inland waterway to close, in the latest labour dispute to interrupt Canada’s key transportation arteries.

The workers, represented by Unifor, walked off the job on Sunday morning just after midnight, after last-ditch talks failed to reach a deal. The union and the employer, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC), are at an impasse over wages, although neither side has disclosed the wage proposals on the table.

The strike has halted shipping traffic through a series of 15 locks from the Port of Montreal through the Welland Canal, which links Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. SLSMC said that cargo vessels within the Seaway itself were cleared during the 72-hour strike notice period leading up to the walkout, but it said that as of Sunday morning, there were “over 100 vessels” outside of the two ends of the system “which are impacted by the situation.

The Seaway creates a 3,700-kilometre inland water transportation route that allows large cargo ships to travel between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. More than 36 million tonnes of cargo passed through the Seaway last year, most of it key natural resources and raw materials, such as grains, metals and mining commodities. The Seaway is a critical piece of transportation infrastructure for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region, a group of two provinces and eight U.S. states that collectively account for nearly one-third of combined U.S. and Canadian economic activity and employment.

The unionized workers have been without a contract since the last one expired in April. This is the first time the Seaway has been closed by a strike since 1968, when it was shut down for 24 days.

“This impasse is extremely unfortunate but our members remain committed to getting a fair agreement,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said in a statement Sunday.

This is the second strike to affect a major part of Canada’s shipping system this year, following one that shut down the Port of Vancouver for nearly two weeks in July. The federal government came under considerable criticism from the business community for its handling of that dispute, and will again be under pressure to pave the way to get the Seaway reopened as quickly as possible.

In statements Sunday, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business urged the federal government to intervene.

“We are calling on the government to use all the tools it has in its tool box,” Canadian Chamber of Commerce vice-president Robin Guy said in an e-mail Sunday afternoon.

“We don’t want to see this drag on like we saw this summer with our West Coast ports. We want to see the government pushing for agreement to bring this strike to an end quickly, including through binding arbitration if necessary.”

Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan issued a brief statement on X (formerly Twitter) late Sunday afternoon, saying that he and Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez had phone conversations with both SLSMC and Unifor on Sunday.”Our message was clear: get back to the table. Work together to reach a deal and get the seaway moving again,” Mr. O’Regan’s tweet said.

A spokesman for Mr. O’Regan said that for now, the minister is observing the situation from a distance. He said that should the minister decide to get more involved, a first level of engagement would be to travel to the site of the talks, which have been taking place at a hotel in St. Catharines, Ont.

Meanwhile, SLSMC said it is awaiting a ruling on an application it filed to the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Friday, seeking an order to require the union to provide sufficient workers to maintain grain shipments through the Seaway.

“In these economically and geopolitically critical times, it is important that the Seaway remains a reliable transportation route for the efficient movement of essential cargoes between North America and the remainder of the world,” Terence Bowles, president and CEO of SLSMC, said in a statement.

Labour disputes have grown more common, and more heated, in Canada over the past couple of years, as workers in many sectors look to win back at the bargaining table what they have lost to high inflation. Federal government statistics show that in the first eight months of 2023, 2.1 million person-days have been lost to strikes – topping the 1.8 million person-days lost in all of 2022, and about double the annual work time lost to strikes prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The walkout on the Seaway comes on the heels of July’s strike at the Port of Vancouver, the country’s busiest cargo port. That work stoppage has been blamed for straining the country’s supply chains and weighing down a wide range of economic activity over the summer, as both imports and exports suffered. Statistics Canada cited the strike as a factor in tepid gross domestic product (GDP) numbers in July, as well as in sluggish manufacturing output and retail sales throughout the summer.

The federal government intervened in the port dispute, enlisting a federal mediator to draft a settlement and threatening to take more forceful action if necessary. But it stopped short of tabling back-to-work legislation, despite repeated calls from the business community to order the strikers back on the job.

Similar calls have already begun for the government to take quick and firm action to end the Seaway shutdown.

“CFIB is asking the government to ensure that the St. Lawrence Seaway remains fully operational while negotiations continue,” said Canadian Federation of Independent Business vice-president Jasmin Guénette in a statement.

He added that the small-business association is still lobbying the government “to make federally regulated workers who are indispensable to the supply chain essential workers, to avoid similar strikes in the future.”

 

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Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

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CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

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BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

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BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

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