CN workers go on strike

Nov 19, 2019

More than 3,000 employees walked off the job Tuesday

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Staff at one of Canada’s national railways are striking.

On Saturday, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents more than 3,000 conductors, trainpersons and yardpersons at Canadian National Railway (CN), served the company with notice of its intent to strike.

Under the Canada Labour Code, a union must give an employer a written 72-hour strike notice. Workers walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday.

The previous collective agreement between the two parties expired on July 23.

Exercising the right to strike will help ensure employee safety.

“Fatigue has been recognized by the Transportation Safety Board as a major safety problem in this industry. Too many railroaders are operating trains when they should be resting,” Lyndon Isaak, president of the TCRC, said in a statement. “For the safety of all Canadians, we cannot allow CN to make it even harder for our members to get the rest they need.”

The strike action also comes after CN celebrated a good start to the 2019-2020 crop year.

The railway moved 2.8 million metric tonnes of grain in October, breaking the previous record of 2.7 million metric tonnes in April 2019.

Producers can ill afford a delay in grain transportation.

“We’ve certainly been monitoring the situation and it’s a huge blow if we lost our rail shipments,” John Guelly, chair of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, told Farms.com. “Our canola products are shipped via rail, and this strike would certainly cause a lot of congestion on top of all the other problems we’re having.

“If elevators and crushers can’t ship product by rail, it’s going to backlog everything and stop delivery. And if you can’t deliver a product, you’re not going to get a cheque for anything.”

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.