Industry and shippers brace for Canada rail stoppage, fear 'catastrophe'
Talks between rail companies and Teamsters deadlocked, each side accuses other of bad faith
Industry groups urge Trudeau's government to prevent stoppage, citing economic impact
U.S. rail operator Norfolk Southern embargoes hazardous cargoes to/from CN and CPKC networks
By David Ljunggren, Promit Mukherjee
OTTAWA, Aug 14 (Reuters) -North American industry groups and shippers are bracing for an unprecedented simultaneous stoppage at both of Canada's main railway companies that could inflict billions of dollars' worth of economic damage.
Canada is the world's second-largest country by area and relies heavily on trains to transport grain, beans and other dried seeds of legume plants, potash, coal, automobiles and other goods.
"It's a catastrophe. Literally nothing would move," said Greg Northey, vice president of public affairs at Pulse Canada.
Talks between Canadian National Railway CNR.TO and Canadian Pacific Kansas City CP.TO on one hand and the Teamsters union on the other have deadlocked, with each side accusing the other of bad faith.
The rail companies say they will start locking out workers on Aug. 22if they cannot reach a labor deal while the union says it is ready to call a strike for that date.
Industry groups want the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to prevent a stoppage, noting Canada's railways transport around C$380 billion ($277 billion) worth of goods annually.
"Factoring in the millions of Canadian jobs that would be impacted, the magnitude of the disruption is daunting," the Business Council of Canada lobby organization said in an open letter to Trudeau and Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon.
A stoppage would also hit the United States, given the degree of integration between the two economies. Canada sends around 75% of all goods exports south of the border. The networks of the two Canadian rail operators, CN and CPKC, connect with several key U.S. rail and shipping hubs such as Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis and Memphis.
CN said on Tuesday it was putting in place an embargo on any new reservations for movement of hazardous materials, security-sensitive cargoes or refrigerated containers originating in Canada, starting on Thursday.
In anticipation of a potential lockout, it also announced it was embargoing all intermodal traffic originating from over half a dozen U.S. hubs with which its network connects, starting on Friday.
Separately, U.S. rail operator Norfolk Southern NSC.N on Tuesday advised all customers that it was embargoing all hazardous and security-sensitive cargoes to or from CN and CPKC's networks effective immediately. It also said additional embargoes may be issued in case of any work stoppages at the Canadian rail operators.
($1 = 1.3721 Canadian dollars)
Reporting by David Ljunggren and Promit Mukherjee in Ottawa, Editing by Matthew Lewis
Aloqador aktivlar
Eng oxirgi yangiliklar
Javobgarlikdan voz kechish: XM Group korxonalari har biri faqat ijro xizmatlarini koʻrsatadi va onlayn savdo platformamizdan foydalanish huquqini beradi, bu odamga veb-saytda yoki veb-sayt orqali mavjud boʻlgan kontentni koʻrish va/yoki undan foydalanishga ruxsat beradi hamda uni oʻzgartirishga moʻljallanmagan va uni oʻzgartirmaydi yoki kengaytirmaydi. Bunday kirish va foydalanish huquqi doimo quyidagilarga boʻysunadi: (i) Shartlar va qoidalar; (ii) Risklar haqida ogohlantirish; va (iii) Javobgarlikni toʻliq rad etish. Shuning uchun bunday kontent umumiy maʼlumot sifatida taqdim etiladi. Xususan, shuni esda tutingki, bizning onlayn savdo platformamiz mazmuni moliyaviy bozorlarda biror bitimni amalga oshirishga oid maslahat yoki taklif emas. Har qanday moliyaviy bozorda savdo qilish sizning kapitalingiz uchun jiddiy risk darajasini oʻz ichiga oladi.
Onlayn savdo platformamizda chop etilgan barcha materiallar faqat taʼlim/axborot maqsadlari uchun moʻljallangan va unda moliyaviy, investitsiya soligʻi yoki savdo maslahatlari va tavsiyalar; yoki bizning savdo narxlarimizning qaydlari; yoki har qanday moliyaviy vositalar bilan bitim tuzish maslahati yoki taklifi; yoki sizga kerak boʻlmagan moliyaviy reklama aksiyalari hisoblanmaydi
Har qanday uchinchi tomon kontenti, shuningdek XM tomonidan tayyorlangan kontent, masalan: fikrlar, yangiliklar, tadqiqotlar, tahlillar, narxlar va boshqa maʼlumotlar yoki bu veb-saytda joylashgan uchinchi tomon saytlariga havolalar umumiy bozor sharhi sifatida "boricha" taqdim etiladi va investitsiya maslahatini tashkil etmaydi. Har qanday kontent investitsiya tadqiqoti sifatida talqin qilinsa, siz bunday kontentni investitsiya tadqiqotlarining mustaqilligini ragʻbatlantirish uchun moʻljallangan qonun talablariga muvofiq moʻljallanmagan va tayyorlanmaganligini eʼtiborga olishingiz va qabul qilishingiz kerak, shuning uchun unga tegishli qonunlar va qoidalarga muvofiq marketing kommunikatsiyasi sifatida qaraladi. Mustaqil boʻlmagan investitsiya tadqiqoti va yuqoridagi maʼlumotlarga oid risk haqida ogohlantirishimizni oʻqib chiqqaningizga va tushunganingizga ishonch hosil qiling, unga bu yerdan kirish mumkin.
