Canadian Pacific Resuming Operations After Work Stoppage

Surveyors work next to Canadian Pacific Rail trains which are parked on the train tracks in Toronto on May 23, 2012.

Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP

Thousands of conductors, engineers, train and yard workers will return to work Tuesday after an agreement between Canadian Pacific Railway and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference ended a two-day work stoppage.

A work stoppage that began Sunday brought trains to a halt across Canada and interrupted fertilizer and other shipments to and from the U.S. as 3,000 workers walked off the job.

The two sides will enter into binding arbitration under a new agreement, according to Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.

Canadian Pacific said that it will immediately begin working with customers to resume normal train operations across Canada as soon as possible.

A lengthy interruption of fertilizer shipments could have hamstrung U.S. farmers who are nearing the spring planting season, as well as exacerbated existing supply chain bottlenecks in the U.S. and Canada that stem from the COVID-19 pandemic.

CP is the leading carrier of potash, a plant nutrient used in the production of multiple crops. According to investor documents, the railroad carries 70% of the potash produced in North America, all from mines in Saskatchewan.

The railroad also carries fertilizers, including phosphate, urea, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and anhydrous ammonia. About half its fertilizer shipments originate from processing plants in Alberta.

U.S. trains were not affected by the work stoppage, but the railroad cannot make shipments between the two nations.