Work stoppage at CP Rail raises economic concerns, calls for back-to-work legislation

The Canadian Pacific Railway work stoppage is fuelling concerns about potential economic fallout and its effects on an already-strained supply chain amid high inflation.

CP Rail's Canadian operations shut down on Sunday, after a work stoppage began just before midnight.

Both it and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents about 3,000 unionized locomotive engineers, conductors, train and yard workers, have been negotiating a new contract since September.

Both CP Rail and Teamsters Canada blame each other for the work stoppage, with the former calling it a strike by the union and the latter calling it a lockout by the employer.

With no resolution found, workers hit the picket lines across Western Canada, including Port Coquitlam, B.C., Calgary and Regina.