THUNDER BAY — If Canada's railways are shut down by a strike or lockout this week, the impact on the Port of Thunder Bay will be significant.
"We're obviously concerned. It would cause shipping to effectively cease on the seaway," said Chris Heikkinen, CEO of the Port of Thunder Bay.
On Sunday night, the Teamsters union announced its members will walk off the job Thursday at CN Rail and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) unless the parties reach a new collective agreement.
CN then issued its own notice saying it will lock out the workers, barring either an agreement or a federal imposition of binding arbitration.
"We're really hopeful that the parties will make every effort to avoid either a strike or lockout," Heikkinen said.
He noted that the Port of Thunder Bay is approaching a crucial time of the year.
"In a few weeks we'll be heading into what we call the grain rush. Usually, sometime in September is when things really start picking up. So, definitely, it's an important time in the shipping season. We have a finite shipping season."
Heikkinen explained: "If there's any day of lost shipping, you can't really make that up. Especially as you're heading into the busier time, most of the vessels are fully booked. You can't really add to the capacity. So it's certainly going to have an impact."
The Chamber of Marine Commerce, a bi-national association representing marine industry stakeholders in Canada and the U.S., issued a statement Monday expressing concern about the effect of any railway work stoppage.
The Western Grain Elevator Association also called on the federal government to consider the importance of keeping grain moving to world markets, saying a strike or lockout will drop bulk grain movements from 6,500 rail cars per week to zero.
But Labour Minister Steven Mackinnon is showing no sign the government is planning to intervene.
In a statement Monday, he called on the parties "to do the hard work necessary to reach an agreement at the bargaining table."
He said the results of the negotiations "will be borne by all Canadians," and added "Canadians expect the parties' efforts to be equal to the trust conferred on them."
