Freight railway cars at a railway station
Coming to a mutually agreed upon deal and a timely solution is in the best interest of both parties as a nationwide railway shutdown looms.
This according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Canada’s leader issued a statement Wednesday morning as freight trains could stop from coast to coast as nearly 9,000 railway employees could potentially strike with a lock out date.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. received a 72-hour strike notice from the union representing thousands of workers.
Workers will be off the job as of 12:01 a.m. eastern time on Thursday according to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference news release, should the parties not reach a a last minute agreement.
Shortly after the statement was issued, CN Rail also issued a notice that they will lock out workers at the same time unless an agreement or binding arbitration is achieved.
Canadians nationwide were counting on an agreement to be made according to the Prime Minister.
Labour minister Steven MacKinnon is scheduled to arrive in Calgary on Wednesday in hopes of bringing the railways and unions to an agreement.
“My message is very straightforward. It is in the best interest of both sides to continue doing the hard work at the table to find a negotiated resolution. Millions of Canadians, of workers, of farmers, of businesses right across the country are counting on both sides to do the work and get to a resolution, ”according to Trudeau.
In the event of a strike, trucking would pose it’s own challenges as a temporary solution according to the Canadian Trucking alliance as one train transporting goods is equivalent to roughly 300 trucks.
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