Canada rail shutdown threatens US supply chains

Canada sends around 75% of all the goods it exports to the US, mostly over rail. A prolonged dispute could disrupt shipments of a wide range of goods, from grains and beans to potash, coal and timber. The lockout will also snarl commutes for tens of thousands of people in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, where lines rely on CPKC-owned tracks. Canada, the world’s second-largest country by area, relies heavily on rail transport. After months of talks, the increasingly bitter negotiations ground to a halt late on Wednesday evening, CBC reported, with both sides accusing the other of refusing to negotiate seriously. In separate statements, CN and CPKC said they took the steps after months after “good faith” negotiations, which stalled over working conditions like shift scheduling and fatigue provisions. “Without an agreement or binding arbitration, CN had no choice but to finalize a safe and orderly shutdown and proceed with a lockout,” CN said in a statement. “CPKC is acting to protect Canada’s supply chains, and all stakeholders, from further uncertainty and the more widespread disruption,” CPKC said, adding that binding arbitration was the only “responsible” way to move forward. Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, the National President of Teamsters Canada, François Laporte, said he wanted to resume negotiations “as soon as possible”. “Across Canada, we have trains who are carrying goods, they are carrying energy, they are carrying chemicals,” he said. “And we want to make sure that those train are operated by people who get the proper rest, who are safe, get who are not fatigued.” “Factoring in the millions of Canadian jobs that would be impacted, the magnitude of the disruption is daunting,” it said. The US and Canadian chambers of commerce followed up earlier this week, warning of the potential “devastating” impact of the stoppage on Canadian businesses and families, but also the US economy. A group of agriculture trade associations has urged Ottawa to step in, but the government has so far resisted calls for binding arbitration. During the lockout, rail networks in the US and Mexico will continue to operate. Some C$380bn (£214bn) in goods is moved by rail each year and railways move half of the country’s goods for export, according to the Railway Association of Canada. Ahead of the full shutdown, both CPKC and CN had already begun pausing some shipments. Professor Barry Prentice, director at the University of Manitoba Transport Institute, said the government would likely pass back-to-work legislation in the coming days if the sides couldn’t come to an agreement, as has been done in similar past disputes. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy76nnpyrnlo