Canada’s two major freight railroads have shut their operations, according to management of the two companies, locking out 9,000 members of the Teamsters union who operate the trains and dealing a potential blow to both the Canadian and US economies.
Nearly a third of the freight handled by the two railroads — Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Southern (CPKC) — crosses the US-Canadian border, and the shutdown could disrupt operations in a number of US industries, including agriculture, autos, home building and energy, depending upon how long the shutdown lasts.
“CPKC is acting to protect Canada’s supply chains, and all stakeholders, from further uncertainty and the more widespread disruption that would be created should this dispute drag out further resulting in a potential work stoppage occurring during the fall peak shipping period,” the company said in a Thursday statement shortly after the start of the lockout at 12:01 am ET. “Delaying resolution to this labor dispute will only make things worse.”
The chambers of commerce in both the United States and Canada issued a joint statement Tuesday calling on the Canadian government to take action to keep the railroads working.
“A stoppage of rail service will be devastating to Canadian businesses and families and impose significant impacts on the US economy,” they said. “Significant two-way trade and deeply integrated supply chains between Canada and the United States mean that any significant rail disruption will jeopardize the livelihoods of workers across multiple industries on both sides of the border.”