WATCH: As the deadline approaches for workers and Canada’s two largest rail lines to find common ground averting a strike, the Federal Labour Minister was in Calgary meeting with both parties. Meghan Cobb has the details of the meeting.industry are preparing to pick up the slack. However, it’s going to be hard to keep up with the volume, they say.
A phased shutdown of the networks at Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is already underway as the clock ticks down on negotiations with the union representing 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers. Both companies have issued lockout notices while the union has also threatened to strike.
“Even though they haven’t gone on strike yet, we still have three to four days of backup already. So we’ve moved everything we can onto the road, but what we’re starting to see already is the costs are starting to go up.”Those increased costs will eventually be passed down to the consumer the longer the strike drags on.