SMART-TD says it expects voting trust approval will "negatively affect employees, shippers and most importantly public safety"
More than 130 shippers, communities, labor organizations, and other stakeholders have already communicated opposition to CN's voting trust proposal directly to the STB
SMART-TD joins a growing list of shippers, communities, labor unions and other stakeholders who have voiced opposition to CN's voting trust as part of its proposal to combine with Kansas City Southern ("KCS"). In a letter to the STB, SMART-TD President
"The approval of the CN voting trust by the STB would be risky for the railway industry and quite possibly will negatively impact our involved SMART-TD members. Approval of the CN voting trust proposal would harm employees of both KCS and CN due to the amount of debt CN will carry and the real possibility that the CN transaction would fail the regulatory test in the end.
"The CN/KCS transaction is the opposite of an end-to-end merger and would be anti-competitive due to the overlap of existing rail lines and affected customers. The CN already has a high capacity mainline route from
"If the CN voting trust and proposed merger were granted approval, we fully expect significant job losses on either CN or KCS because ultimately the transaction would require either a sale or abandonment of duplicative rail lines. The consequences for SMART-TD members would be uncertain, adverse, and certainly contrary to the public interest."
In contrast, the SMART-TD letter says of Canadian Pacific's proposed combination with KCS: "we anticipate growth in both rail businesses and jobs for SMART-TD members."
Additional Union Concerns about a CN/KCS transaction
Public Comment Period for
The next two weeks, leading up to the STB's
Now is the time for stakeholders to voice their concerns about whether CN should be able to lock in its anti-competitive plan to buy KCS via a voting trust. Stakeholders can express their concerns directly to the STB.
Allowing CN to close into trust would not be in the public interest because its approval would pre-judge STB review, harm competition, risk CN shifting financial burdens to shippers, and pave the way for additional
CP maintains that a CP-KCS combination is the only viable Class 1 merger that serves the best interests of customers and stakeholders, but also the continent's rail network to enable a new corridor of investment and capacity for the North American economy to grow.
For more information on the transaction and the benefits CP-KCS is expected to bring to the full range of stakeholders, visit FutureForFreight.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND INFORMATION
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements and forward looking information (collectively, FLI). FLI is typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "expect", "project", "estimate", "forecast", "plan", "intend", "target", "believe", "likely" and similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be FLI.
Although we believe that the FLI is reasonable based on the information available today and processes used to prepare it, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and you are cautioned against placing undue reliance on FLI. By its nature, FLI involves a variety of assumptions, which are based upon factors that may be difficult to predict and that may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, levels of activity and achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these FLI, including, but not limited to, the following: changes in business strategies and strategic opportunities; estimated future dividends; financial strength and flexibility; debt and equity market conditions, including the ability to access capital markets on favourable terms or at all; cost of debt and equity capital; potential changes in the CP share price; the ability of management of CP, its subsidiaries and affiliates to execute key priorities; general North American and global social, economic, political, credit and business conditions; risks associated with agricultural production such as weather conditions and insect populations; the availability and price of energy commodities; the effects of competition and pricing pressures, including competition from other rail carriers, trucking companies and maritime shippers in
We caution that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and is made as of the date hereof. Additional information about these and other assumptions, risks and uncertainties can be found in reports and filings by CP with Canadian and
Except to the extent required by law, we assume no obligation to publicly update or revise any FLI, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. All FLI in this news release is expressly qualified in its entirety by these cautionary statements.
ABOUT CANADIAN PACIFIC
View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/north-americas-largest-railroad-operating-union-joins-others-and-calls-on-stb-to-reject-cn-voting-trust-301312000.html
SOURCE Canadian Pacific
© Canada Newswire, source