Canadian railways grind to a halt as workers locked out; economic fallout fears rise

Canada's top two railroads locked out more than 9,000 unionized workers, triggering an unprecedented rail stoppage that could cause billions of dollars worth of economic damage and roil North American supply chains.

The companies - Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) - and the Teamsters union blamed each other for the work stoppage after multiple rounds of talks failed to yield a new agreement.

"Throughout this process, CN and CPKC have shown themselves willing to compromise rail safety and tear families apart to earn an extra buck," Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) president Paul Boucher said, adding the talks were continuing.

The two railroads said they had bargained in good faith and had made multiple offers with better pay and working conditions.

"Despite our best efforts, it is clear that a negotiated outcome with the TCRC is not within reach," CPKC said.

The Canadian government has so far asked the railroads and the union to work together and reach an agreement, choosing not to use its power to refer the dispute to binding arbitration.

Francois Laporte, president of Teamsters Canada, told reporters outside CN's Montreal headquarters that he did not expect the government would force workers into arbitration.

"We believe that this thing has to be settled at (the) bargaining table," Laporte said in front of picketing CN workers. "We don't believe in letting a third party decide what's going to be the working conditions of these people."

But disruptions were mounting.

Tens of thousands of people who depend on certain commuter rail lines into the cities of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, have also been impacted by the lockouts, as all train movement on these CPKC-owned lines has been