Thursday, August 24, 2024 - Canada’s two largest railways locked out their employees overnight in what is an unprecedented shutdown of freight traffic across the country, having the potential to affect sawmill supply chains and small businesses in Cochrane and across Canada.
Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) President and CEO Derek Nighbor issued the following statement regarding a work stoppage now affecting rail service across the country:
“A shutdown of Canada’s rail network has the potential to shut down many of our mills – which would be a blow to forest sector workers, contractors, their families, and the local businesses that rely on their paycheques, at a time when business is already tough,” said Nighbor.
Following months of increasingly bitter negotiations, shipments at Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPKC) ground to a halt, threatening to upend supply chains still heavily affected by pandemic-related disruptions and a port strike last year.
The CN and CPKC rail companies involved in the current dispute are essential partners to most of Canada’s sawmills and pulp and paper mills.
