Estevan

CN and CPKC took steps early Thursday morning to lockout over 9000 employees who are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference after an agreement was not reached.

In a press release following the lockout, CN notes that they chose to lock out employees after the union did not respond to another offer by CN in a final attempt to avoid a labour disruption.

CN says over the last nine months they have negotiated in good faith

A storm raged across the southeast last night bringing rain, lightning, and more to towns and cities around the area.

During the leadup to that storm, Environment Canada sent out watches that said hail, strong gusts, and even tornadoes were possible.

Meteorologist Stephen Berg says that while the last few days have seen storms this one was much bigger.

CUPE Saskatchewan has had a busy year working with members from across the province and helping them get out in the community.

That includes a series of Community BBQs to spread awareness of what they do across the province, including one in Estevan yesterday.

CUPE Saskatchewan President Kent Peterson says that they've also been busy in other sectors over the summer.

In a first for Canada, freight traffic on its two largest railways has simultaneously ground to a halt, threatening to upend supply chains trying to move forward from pandemic-related disruptions and a port strike last year.

In the culmination of months of increasingly bitter negotiations, Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the parties disagreed on a new contract before the midnight deadline.

Paramedics in training will have a bit of financial relief thanks to bursaries invested by the provincial government. Approximately 58 bursaries will be allocated to students entering the EMS program to help financially support paramedic training. A one-time funding of $530,000 will be split up ranging from $5,000-$10,000 over the bursaries. However, certain criteria need to be met to be eligible. 

I've always said as a photographer "if you don't go, you can't show." I had just finished photographing a nice bull moose, I was about a mile down the road when I stopped to take this photo. At first the sunflower caught my eye as they are so bright right now. After a few minutes of enjoying several different angles of this beauty, a little ladybug arrives on the scene. This elevated the photo to a whole new level, the composition just got better.

For weeks now, the agriculture sector has been calling for action to avoid a potential rail strike urging the Federal Government to take action to stop the strike.

On Wednesday, with just hours left before the strike deadline for over 9000 CN and CPKC workers they gathered once again to voice their concerns.

Terry Youzwa, a farmer from Nipawin and chair of Pulse Canada says we're staring down a rail stoppage of historic proportions.

As the Paralympics draw near, Midale is proudly adorned with posters of Keely Shaw, the local cyclist who will carry their spirit to the Games.

“It’s a real honour to have somebody represent us from our town and be in the public eye like that,” said Midale Mayor Allan Halgulm.

He noted that Midale has a strong sports community, with hockey, fastball, and intramural sports being an integral part of the town's makeup.

 the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference says the roughly 9000 CN and CPKC workers involved could walk out as of 12:01 am Thursday.

The Executive Director of the Western Grain Elevators Association (WGEA) Wade Sobkowich says a national rail strike involving both railways will have a major impact, as there is no Plan B.

According to the WGEA we move roughly 50 million tonnes of grain per day by rail in Canada.

Sobkowich says the railways on Tuesday started preparing for a work stoppage situation with both railways embargoing all Canadian-origin products.

As the clock ticks down on the strike deadline there's an overwhelming call for the Canadian government to intervene and prevent a national rail strike.

For months now Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian National and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have been at the bargaining table but to no avail.

On Sunday, the union announced that unless the parties reached a last-minute agreement, workers would be off the job as of 12:01 a.m. eastern time Thursday.