The Port of Vancouver is among organizations and business groups concerned about a possible rail stoppage starting Thursday.
After talks broke down, 9,000 unionized rail workers with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference are expected to be off the job, bringing the country’s rail system to a halt and disrupting a key link in the supply chain for almost everything.
“The impact to the Port of Vancouver will be significant, with approximately two-thirds of all cargo volumes at the port moved by rail, including 90 per cent of international exports,” the port said in a statement.
“Trade through the Port of Vancouver plays a vital role supporting Canada and our economic prosperity, with approximately $1 of every $3 of Canada’s trade in goods outside of North America moving through the Port of Vancouver.”
Staff said they have taken proactive measures to manage vessel arrivals and anchorage assignments to maintain port fluidity, vessels moving and anchorage capacity for the terminals not affected by the strike activity.
They said they expect disruptions to containers moving grain, potash, coal and other cargo transported to and from port terminals by rail.
The strike would affect CN Rail and CPKC Rail.
When B.C.’s longshore workers were on strike for 13 days in 2023, the port said it took many months to clear that backlog, with delayed shipments and overburdened infrastructure struggling to restore normalcy.
“At the Port of Vancouver alone, that strike affected the movement of $800 million of goods a day (and) saw 17 cargo ships diverted to other ports, while many more were stuck waiting at anchor—causing substantial delays and financial losses for businesses dependent on these goods,” the statement read.
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Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, told Global News that any stoppage on the rail lines will be “disastrous” for small businesses, consumers, employers and employees.
“I mean, we’re talking about a significant disruption if a stoppage continues and happens in these coming days,” she said.
“We are very, very concerned about what the ripple effect could be right across the economy here in British Columbia.”
Anderson said businesses, particularly small businesses, have voiced concerns about being able to receive goods.
“This comes at a time where the economy is pretty fragile already,” she added.
“And if you think back to last year when there was the port strike, it impacted both employers, employees, small businesses and consumers alike and led to higher prices. We are very concerned that we’re going to see the same scenario again.”
Anderson said that consumers could see higher prices with fewer goods available.
TransLink has already stated that if the rail strike does go ahead, the West Coast Express would be unable to run.
Ken Peacock, chief economist and senior vice president at the Business Council of British Columbia, said they are also “very concerned” about any possible impacts.
“We’re concerned about the economic implications, especially on the export side,” he said. “But of course, there’s the import side as well because so many consumer products, pretty much every consumer product, if we look around our homes today, is imported and the vast majority of those are imported from overseas.”
Peacock said the potential for disruption is “massive.”
There is really no alternative for many companies to move goods across the country, he added.
“You have identifiable, negative, economic impacts in other sectors in a very short order of time so it’s very serious and it’s caught our attention.”
Teamsters union representative Christopher Monette told Global News that they are still negotiating with both CN Rail and CPKC Rail.
“CN has served the union with the formal lockout notice while at CPKC they had already served us with a formal lockout notice,” he said.
“At this time, the main issues at the bargaining table still centre around, rest and fatigue and rail safety, as well as CN’s forced relocation scheme. We’re trying hard to get to an agreement with both companies. That being said, again, these negotiations are very peculiar insofar as the main issues are company demands and not union proposals. So the ball remains squarely in the company’s court.”
Monette said they are ready to negotiate.
In a statement, CN Rail said that “unless there is an immediate and definite resolution to the labour conflict, CN will have no choice but to continue the phased and progressive shutdown of its network which would culminate in a lockout.
“CN must continue with the progressive and planned shutdown of its network, as we remain under the threat of an unpredictable strike notice. This planned shutdown helps to ensure the safety of the communities in which we operate and the safety of our customers’ goods, and to optimize the network’s recovery following a labour disruption.”
In an additional statement, CPKC Rail said “All stakeholders want an end to this needless uncertainty as rapidly as possible so that we can continue serving the North American economy. Stability could be restored today if the TCRC would accept CPKC’s offer to resolve the current labour dispute through binding interest arbitration.”
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