For the first time, Canada’s two main railway companies, Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), are on the verge of a simultaneous labour stoppage.
The companies say they will start locking out workers in the early hours of Thursday if they cannot reach a deal, while the union says it is ready to call a strike for that day.
The Teamsters union is demanding better wages and benefits, including provisions for fatigue management and better crew scheduling.
The two rail lines play an outsized role in the Canadian economy, moving roughly $1 billion worth of goods per day, according to the Railway Association of Canada.
Here’s a look at how a stoppage could affect business, and people’s everyday lives.
Getting around
For most people, a freight rail stoppage won’t have an immediate impact on how they get around. But more than 32,000 rail commuters could be affected in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Transit authorities say select commuter lines that run on CPKC tracks will be suspended should dispatchers walk off the job alongside 3,200 other workers.
Workers at Canada’s two main rail companies could strike as early as Thursday. CBC’s Clara Pasieka breaks down how the city’s public transit and local businesses could be impacted.
The commuter lines affected by the potential work stoppage are TransLink’s West Coast Express in the Vancouver area, Metrolinx’s Milton line and Hamilton GO station in the Greater Toronto Area, and Exo’s Candiac, Saint-Jerome and Vaudreuil/Hudson lines in the Montreal area.
Via Rail would also see service disrupted along a route in northern Ontario that runs through Sudbury, a spokesperson said.
Grocery stores
The threat of a rail stoppage could also have an effect on what we see on grocery store shelves, especially if the dispute drags on.
Already, some perishable food is not being shipped by rail, said Michael Graydon, chief executive officer of Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada, an industry group.
Graydon said frozen food, such as french fries, could already have stopped being shipped. Meat and fruit such as bananas, which often arrive in Canada by rail after first arriving in the United States, could also be affected, he said.
He said parts of Western Canada and Atlantic Canada area likely to be most affected.
Graydon also raised concern the type of “consumer hoarding” we saw during the pandemic could compound any potential shortage and put additional strain on suppliers.
Small businesses
A stoppage would have consequences for many businesses if a strike were to drag on — particularly small ones with…
Read More: How a rail stoppage could affect freight, farming, french fries and more
