(Bloomberg circulated the following story by Rip Watson on February 26.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Canadian National Railway Co. engineers at the company’s Winnipeg, Manitoba, terminal threatened to strike as early as tomorrow, saying a week-old walkout by mechanics has made working conditions unsafe.
Members of the Teamsters union made the claim in a letter sent to Canadian National, the country’s biggest mover of rail freight. The union said a train operated by a manager rammed a train run by a unionized engineer, injuring the person.
Another job action could slow shipments to the U.S. from Winnipeg, which with Edmonton, Alberta, forms the railway’s third- busiest stretch of track. Canadian National, based in Montreal, already faces service disruptions after 5,000 mechanics and clerks walked off the job last week.
“The entire Winnipeg Terminal is an unsafe workplace,” the union, which represents 135 engineers, said in the letter.
Mark Hallman, a spokesman for Canadian National, said the unspecified injury was “very minor” and that “operations are safe.”
Railway operations were “near normal” today as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. resumed shipping vehicles on Canadian National in Canada, Hallman said. The automakers’ six Canadian plants make about 6,500 vehicles daily.
Canadian National stock fell 45 Canadian cents to C$52.50 at 12:44 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading.