OTTAWA: More than 3,000 Canadian Pacific Rail workers are on strike, but contract negotiations continue, their union said.
The nation's second largest railway said it would rely on managers to keep trains rolling, but the strike since yesterday is widely expected to curtail or shut down its freight shipments.
That would compound shipping delays at CP and its larger rival Canadian National Railway over the winter caused by extreme weather that hit miners, loggers and grain farmers trying to get their wares to ports for shipping to overseas markets.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government would not rush to force the train conductors and engineers back to work, but has sent federal mediators to assist in the negotiations.
This is the third strike at CP Rail since 2012.
The latest labour action comes as the company reached a tentative deal yesterday with its more than 300 signalling workers who were also poised to walk off the job.