Shippers and producers are holding their breath ahead of a possible strike by thousands of railworkers this month that would halt freight traffic, clog ports and disrupt industries.
“The railways are two ribbons that go east to west, and there’s not much alternative if you cut those two ribbons,” said John Corey, president of the Freight Management Association of Canada, whose members include port authorities, manufacturers and other large shippers such as retailers Canadian Tire and Home Depot.
“The ports become useless. Nothing moves anywhere.”
Canadian railways haul more than $350 billion worth of goods and more than half of the country’s total exports each year, according to the Railway Association of Canada.
Anxiety over a strike by some 9,300 employees at Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. already cost the companies business after customers sought to reroute cargo in recent months following approval of a strike mandate by union members in May.
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