TORONTO, Aug 22, (AP): Both of Canada’s major freight railroads have come to a full stop because of a contract dispute with their workers, an impasse that could bring significant economic harm to businesses and consumers in Canada and the US if the trains don’t resume running soon.
Canadian National and CPKC railroads both locked out their employees after the deadline of 12:01 a.m. Eastern Thursday passed without new agreements with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference that represents some 10,000 engineers, conductors and dispatchers.
All rail traffic in Canada and all shipments crossing the US border have stopped, although CPKC and CN’s trains will continue to operate in the US and Mexico.
Billions of dollars of goods each month move between Canada and the US via rail, according to the US Department of Transportation.
"If rail traffic grinds to a halt, businesses and families across the country will feel the impact," Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, said in a statement. "Manufacturing workers, their communities and consumers of all sorts of products will be left reeling from supply chain disruptions.”
There will be other impacts as well, including on the more than 30,000 commuters in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal who will be scrambling to find a new way into work because their trains won’t be able to operate over CPKC’s tracks while the railroad is shut down.
Business groups had urged the government to intervene, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declined to force both sides into arbitration yet.
CN said it was waiting for a response on one final offer made late Wednesday when it locked the workers out. CPKC spokesperson Patrick Waldron said the union rejected its last offer that CEO Keith Creel made at the table in person. Both railroads have said they would end the lockout if the union agreed to binding arbitration.