Union See Progress in Talks; Announcement Possible: CN Update

(Bloomberg) -- Striking railway workers in Canada say they are making progress in talks with Canadian National Railway Co. to end a stoppage that has crippled Canada’s economy. An announcement is possible today, Christopher Monette, a spokesman for Teamsters Canada said in a phone interview.

The union and the Montreal-based railway have been in talks to end the strike that began Nov. 19 when 3,200 workers walked off the job, citing working conditions and fatigue. Industry groups have been pressing the federal government to force the striking conductors back to work. An official at CN Rail couldn't be reached for comment.

Lobby groups converge on Ottawa to press for end to strike (8:25 a.m.)

Farm groups are scheduled to descend on Ottawa today and Wednesday to press for an end to a national rail strike that has crippled shipments of grain and consumer goods and forced the closure of a massive potash mine.

“This disruption, coupled with a universally disastrous harvest could have an impact from which some farmers never recover,” the Grain Growers of Canada said in a statement. “The time for government action is now.”

The grain lobby plans to hold a press conference in Ottawa today to urge an end to the strike that is entering its second week. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture will make a similar plea in Ottawa Wednesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has so far resisted calls to force strikers back to work, and parliament doesn’t resume sitting until Dec. 5.

The strike by 3,200 conductors and railyard operators that began on Nov. 19 at Canadian National Railway Co. is starting to bite. Ships are waiting for grain off the West coast and the Montreal Port Authority reported cargoes of grain, sugar, minerals and bulk liquids are stalled on CN convoys.

The world’s largest fertilizer producer plans to temporarily close its biggest potash mine, citing the strike. Nutrien Ltd., said Monday it notified workers of a two-week shutdown starting Dec. 2 at its Rocanville mine in Saskatchewan. About 550 of 600 employees are expected to be laid off.

For Inter Pipeline Ltd., a continuation of the strike will result in “further production slowdowns” and a possible shutdown of its Redwater facility, the company said in a letter to the government.

Canada Oil Prices Tumble as Storage Tanks Start to Fill (6:49 p.m.)

Canadian heavy oil prices weakened on Monday as a week-long rail strike forced transport terminals to take reduced volumes of crude with tanks filling up.

Oil sands-benchmark Western Canadian Select’s discount to West Texas Intermediate futures grew 35 cents to $19.25 a barrel, the widest since Nov. 11, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union, which has been without a contract since July, says that CN wants to make it more difficult to take time off and make employees work longer hours. On Monday it released what it said was a recording of a CN supervisor telling fatigued workers to continue working. CN said it was looking into the recording.

In an update on talks late Monday, Montreal-based CN reiterated it has proposed solutions to end the strike, including a move to binding arbitration, which it says the union has rejected. The Teamsters union said there has been no progress in talks.

The strike has hit hard at Canadian oil, the country’s biggest export.

Altex Energy Ltd. filled all the rail tanker cars on site but is still taking oil from producers at reduced volumes, John Zahary, chief executive officer, said on Monday. The company’s CN-serviced terminals in Western Canada, including Lashburn, Lynton, Unity and Falher, have about 200,000 barrels of storage.

“We will be full in a couple of days,” Zahary said by text.

CN said Friday a “small pool of qualified managers” allow the company to fulfill about 10% of normal services. Some oil and other commodities are moving on larger trains, operating with limited-sized crews, according to a person familiar. CN runs a Canadian network that extends 22,000 kilometers (14,000 miles).

Western Canadian oil companies must rely on shipping some oil by rail after pipelines filled to capacity nearly two years ago. CN moved 180,000 barrels a day in September, making up more than half of Canada’s total crude-by-rail exports that month. Alberta’s government has been seeking to encourage rail usage by exempting oil shipped on trains from production limits imposed on the province’s biggest companies early this year to alleviate a glut caused by too few pipelines.

Not all oil companies are equally affected by the strike. Imperial Oil Ltd. owns one of Western Canada’s largest terminals near Edmonton, Alberta. The majority of the oil they ship by rail goes on the Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. system, not CN’s, said spokesman Jon Harding. Cenovus Energy Inc.’s Bruderheim terminal is also served by CP and CN. The Hardisty terminal of USD Group Llc. and Gibson Energy Inc. is served by CP.

--With assistance from Jacqueline Thorpe, Kevin Orland and Sandrine Rastello.

To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Tuttle in Calgary at rtuttle@bloomberg.net;Sandrine Rastello in Montreal at srastello@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Marino at dmarino4@bloomberg.net, Catherine Traywick, David Scanlan

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