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Strikes and shutdowns are looming north of the border in Canada, where talks between rail operators and workers have broken down, reports Reuters. A lockout is now looming on Canada’s freight network that could see 10,000 Teamsters union members unable to work later this week.
The lockout is the latest saga in talks between the union and Canadian National Railway CNI+3.46% and Canadian Pacific Kansas City CP+3.60%, reports Reuters. From early Thursday morning, 10,000 union members will be locked out of their jobs unless last-minute talks can rectify the situation:
It marks the first time that the country has faced a simultaneous labor stoppage at the railroad firms as they normally negotiate their labor agreements in alternate years.
The stoppages could cripple the shipment of food grains, beans, potash, coal and timber which form a large part of Canada’s exports, while also impacting shipments ranging from petroleum products to chemicals and cars.
In addition to billions of dollars of economic damage, the stoppages could disrupt rail trade across the North American continent.
Rail operators claim that talks with unions heralded “no real progress” over the weekend, so authorized the lockout after months of meetings over new contracts for unionized workers. The rail operators say they have made multiple contract offers that address issues like “wages, rest, and labor availability,” reports Reuters. However, the union is opposed to measures that it says could force workers to move across Canada with minimal notice in order to fill labor shortages.
In response to the lockout order from the two rail operators, the Teamsters union, which represents workers such as rail traffic controllers and locomotive engineers, issued a 72-hour strike notice to Canadian Pacific Kansas City CP+3.60%, which could hit ahead of the lockout.
A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik’s The Morning Shift.