OTTAWA – The vast Canadian real network ceased operating when the nation’s two major rail companies locked out 9,000 employees in an escalating dispute with the Teamsters union. Both railroads, the Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City, have extensive lines in the United States, but those trains will keep running – albeit without cargoes from Canada. The CN has a trunk through Wisconsin to Chicago and the Gulf. The CPKC has a trunk through Minnesota and down the Misssissippi River to the Gulf. Even with U.S. routes operating, the lockout was expected to be a blow to the bubbling U.S. economy. Billions of dollars in U.S.-bound cargoes went into limbo. Approximately 20% of U.S. trade first arrives at Canadian ports on the Pacific. These cargoes include fertilizer, iron ore, grain, cement, salt, potash, coal, cars, timber and containers loaded with consumer goods and parts used in manufacturing.
Why the lockout
The railroads claimed they acted to protect supply chains that were threatened by a possible Teamsters strike. The lockout was pre-emptive to head off an even more consequential disruption during the peak fall shipping period, the companies said. Both railroads had sought arbitration to end the dispute, but the government said no. Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon said it was a “shared responsibility” of railroads and the union to negotiate in good faith.