LEILA FADEL, HOST:
A labor dispute in Canada could hit consumers and businesses here in the U.S.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Canada's two main freight railroads have come to a full stop. The railroads are locking out unionized employees as part of labor negotiations, and that means goods that cross the U.S. border each month have also stopped.
FADEL: Lauren Kaori Gurley is a labor reporter for The Washington Post, and she's been following this story. Hi, Lauren.
LAUREN KAORI GURLEY: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: Good morning. So what are the major disagreements between the union and the railway companies?
GURLEY: Yeah. So actually, yeah, this morning, at 12:01 a.m, 10,000 Canadian rail workers began a work stoppage. And the union and these two Canadian companies, which are the two largest Canadian rail companies, have been in bargaining since their contract ended at the end of last year, 2023, but the main sticking points for the union are what they say are grueling scheduling practices, provisions intended to prevent fatigue on the railroads, and relocation orders that are sending Canadian rail workers across Canada for months at a time, displacing them from their families. On the other end, the companies say they've offered significant wage increases, safety provisions and better schedules that address all of these union's concerns.
FADEL: And how far apart are the two sides? I mean, is an agreement possible?
GURLEY: The sides, as of early this morning, remain very far apart, meaning that the strike or the lockout could drag on for days. And I should note that the concerns from Canada's rail workers about safety provisions and scheduling are very similar to those brought up by rail workers who almost went on strike in the United States in 2022.
FADEL: Two main freight railroads stopping completely - I mean, that sounds big. What does that mean for consumers and businesses, and how that will be experienced also here in the U.S?
GURLEY: Sure. So the impacts are already being felt throughout Canada, and even in the United States. The United States and Canada's rail systems are very interconnected at this point, and so in particular, into the United States, we can expect disruptions for key imports like cars, timber, petroleum products, grains, even beans, other crucial supplies.
FADEL: Wow.
GURLEY: Supply chain experts say this could lead to serious inflation, at a time when we're just, you know, coming out of a period of serious inflation and supply chain shortages, and cause real pain for small businesses in the United States that could lead to, you know, plant shutdowns.
FADEL: Does this also affect commuters, people traveling across the border?
GURLEY: So there's no expected disruption for travelers in the United States, but tens of thousands of commuters in Canada's three biggest cities - Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver - will have to find alternative travel plans. And a lot of the rail traffic is being rerouted through trucks, and so there are trucks lined up at the border. Some of the goods can't be transported on trucks because they're dangerous or perishable, but you could expect more traffic to be crossing the U.S.-Canada border now, at this point, that workers are fully at a work stoppage.
FADEL: Lauren Kaori Gurley is a labor reporter for The Washington Post. Lauren, thanks for joining us.
GURLEY: Thank you so much.
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