Alberta’s Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors Devin Dreeshen says it is a major concern all across the country if our railways must engage in a work stoppage.
Talks between Canada’s Class 1 railways – Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPKC) and Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) – and the Teamsters Union are deadlocked. The work stoppage is currently slated to happen at the start of the day Thursday, August 22nd (00:01 ET).
If the strike goes through, Dreeshen says it is estimated that for every day off, it will take about three to five days to catch up, along with the reputational damage to this country’s supply chain.
Dreeshen also says that both he and Alberta’s Labour Minister have written to their federal counterparts, while Premier Danielle Smith has reached out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) continues to call on the government to make ports and rails and essential service, so they remain full operational at all times.
The federal government has turned down CN Rail’s request for binding arbitration at this time, but this could change in the event of a shutdown.
