IBEW’s Steve Martin confirmed in a text that the workers had been legally on strike since 11 a.m. local time on Saturday. IBEW issued a 72-hour strike notice Wednesday morning. CN did not confirm that the workers had gone on strike, but spokesman Jonathan Abekasis said the company had implemented an “emergency business plan”, noting that operations were continuing “safely and at normal levels”. The Montreal-based company says it continues to encourage the union to resolve wage and benefits issues through binding arbitration. CN went on an eight-day strike by more than 3,000 employees represented by Teamsters Canada in November 2019, which halted shipments and shut down industries across the country. The CN transports more than 300 million tonnes of goods and consumer goods across the continent each year.
