Any work stoppage would have a “devastating” impact on the Canadian economy and would be a severe blow to Canada’s reputation as a reliable supplier of goods, the CCA argues in a letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland Transport, Pablo Rodriguez, and Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan.

CCA President and CEO Goldy Hyder is calling on the Trudeau government to emulate President Joe Biden’s administration, which intervened quickly last year to prevent a strike from crippling rail service in the United States.

“Business leaders across the country support the collective bargaining process and recognize that the best agreements are made at the bargaining table. However, any breakdown in negotiations that leads to a nationwide rail strike would cause devastating disruption to the economy,” Mr. Hyder argued in his letter to the three Trudeau government ministers.

“It would disrupt the transportation of essential goods, raise prices for consumers and businesses, put jobs at risk and damage Canada’s reputation as a reliable trading partner,” he also said, listing the consequences of a strike.

Impact spectrum

The specter of a strike has been hanging over the country’s rail transport for several weeks. At the beginning of the month, the approximately 9,300 workers of the country’s two largest rail companies, Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), voted 98% in favor of the strike.

The union, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), has already indicated that a strike could take place starting this Wednesday, May 22. However, no work stoppage is planned until the Canada Industrial Relations Board has ruled on the definition of “essential goods” in this matter.

Negotiations to renew collective bargaining agreements for conductors, engineers and rail yard workers have been stalled for several months. The biggest stumbling block in negotiations concerns work hours. The CFTC says the two railroads are trying to remove key rest provisions from labor contracts – a move that could increase crew fatigue and endanger public safety, the union says.

Such a labour dispute that could slow the flow of goods from coast to coast may not be the only one. Some fear the standoff between dockworkers at the Port of Montreal and their employer, the Maritime Employers’ Association, will also lead to another conflict, while uncertainty reigns at the Canada Border Services Agency.

At a time when the Trudeau government is stepping up its efforts to strengthen relations between Canada and the United States ahead of the November presidential election and the possible return to power of Republican candidate Donald Trump, the CCA believes all these efforts could be in vain if the supply chain between the two countries is paralyzed by a rail strike.

In the past, the Trudeau government has been very reluctant to intervene in a labour dispute. He also introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of strikebreakers in state-chartered companies. The New Democratic Party, which ensures the political survival of the Liberal minority in the House of Commons and is close to the unions, also vehemently opposes any law that would prevent unionised workers from striking as a means of exerting pressure.

However, according to Mr. Hyder, the stakes are too high for the Trudeau government to remain inactive. He invites him to draw inspiration from the Biden administration’s determination on the issue to avoid “an economic catastrophe” and maintain the stability of supply chains. “We ask you to act with the same determination and to consider all measures to prevent a work stoppage. »