U.S., Canadian Chambers call for action to avert rail stoppage

On Tuesday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce issued a joint statement urging government officials to take action to prevent rail stoppage in Canada.

The two chambers said the rail stoppage would impact businesses on both side of the border.

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Canadian Chamber of Commerce are calling on the Government of Canada to immediately intervene to avert a disruption in the Canadian rail network,” Suzanne P. Clark, President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Honorable Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “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. The Government of Canada must take action to ensure goods continue to move reliably between our two countries.”

Unless labor agreements between Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City are reached, a work stoppage of freight railway operations across Canada is looming. The work stoppage would disrupt North America’s agricultural supply chain, threatening to halt shipments of everything from grain to fertilizer to meat.

If a labor agreement isn’t reached by midnight on Thursday, the possible work stoppage would directly involve 10,000 Canadian employees of the railroads and would have an effect on the U.S. economy because of the two countries’ crisscrossing rail lines.

Nearly three dozen North American agriculture groups have urged governmental action as well.

“The impact of a strike would be particularly severe on bulk commodity exporters in both Canada and the United States as trucking is not a viable option for many agricultural shippers,” a letter from the groups said.

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