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Workers at Canadian National Railway go on strike after failing to reach contract, union negotiator says

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Workers in signals and communications have gone on strike at Canadian National Railway Co. CNR-T in a development that threatens to exacerbate transport bottlenecks across the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some 750 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Canada walked off the job Saturday after failing to agree to a new labour contract with the railway, union negotiator Steve Martin said in an interview. The two sides are not meeting in person but continue to talk and exchange contract proposals, he said.

A spokesman for Canadian National would not confirm that the walkout had occurred. “We’re not saying anything at this point on our end,” Jonathan Abecassis said by phone on Sunday.

A lasting strike could deliver yet another hit to supply chains in Canada and drive up prices for goods, which have already been affected by the pandemic. And last year in British Columbia, mudslides and flooding severed all major highways between the Lower Mainland and the Interior, as well as freight routes used by Canadian National and rival Canadian Pacific.

The railway has a contingency plan in place to ensure that the safe transport of goods continues, Mr. Abecassis said. There is no impact to operations currently and there is none expected, he said.

The union challenged that view, saying fallout is unavoidable if the work stoppage continues. “The impact to operations is highly likely,” Mr. Martin said. That’s because a large percentage of workers are on-call employees responding to troubleshooting situations like the aftermath of thunderstorms, he explained. Others do preventative maintenance.

The striking workers repair and maintain CN’s trackside electrical and signalling equipment, such as crossings, track signals and switches. This equipment dictates the potential speed of trains, much in the same way traffic lights dictate the speed of motor vehicles on the road, Mr. Martin said.

CN intends to use managers and contract workers to do the work if needed, Mr. Abecassis said. It was unclear how this would be possible in Quebec, which has stringent laws against using non-management replacement workers in a labour-conflict situation.

The union last week gave the company a 72-hour notice of its intention to strike. The company has offered to resolve the remaining differences with the union, chiefly on wages and benefits, through binding arbitration.

One major issue being contested concerns what’s called “out-of-region work.” The company wants to be able to move workers out of their home region for a specific number of days at time, Mr. Martin said. The same issue came up during the previous contract negotiations, which yielded a five-year collective agreement that expired at the end of 2021.

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Cineplex reports $24.7M Q3 loss on Competition Tribunal penalty

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TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.

The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.

The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.

Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.

Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CGX)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Restaurant Brands reports US$357M Q3 net income, down from US$364M a year ago

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TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.

Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.

On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.

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

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:QSR)

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Electric and gas utility Fortis reports $420M Q3 profit, up from $394M a year ago

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.

The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.

Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:FTS)

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