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After tabling back-to-work legislation in the House of Commons,federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt says she wants to see CanadianPacific Railway trains moving again by Thursday. But transportation and commodity experts say it could take quite awhile for CP's rail service to get back to normal once the strikeis brought to an end. Barry Prentice, a business professor at the University of Manitoba,said in the past only a handful of commodities were transported bytrain. But today "everything is moving in containers" that areoften sent at least partway by rail. As a result, the effect of the strike is "much more widespread thanwould have been the case in the past across the economy," he said. It could take more than a month for CP to clear bottlenecks alongits rail lines, he said. "When you start up a railway, you can t just again say 'OKeverybody, get back to the trains and go,'" Prentice said. "Theystart to bring up one segment at a time." Mounting costs For days now, business groups have been complaining that theweek-long strike by thousands of CP Rail workers is costing themdearly. Grain elevators are filling up with wheat while half a dozen cargoships are waiting in Vancouver's port to carry it abroad, the headof the Canadian Wheat Board said. At the same time, thousands of tonnes of potash are sitting idleinstead of making their way to market, according to Richard Downeyof Agrium Inc. a fertilizer supplier that owns part of Saskatchewanpotash exporter Canpotex. The dispute over proposed pension cuts and changes to work rulesled to a halt in service last Wednesday, as 4,800 locomotiveengineers and conductors walked off the job. Talks between management and the union broke off Sunday, promptingthe federal labour minister to table back-to-work legislation inthe House of Commons Monday afternoon. Raitt has estimated the CP stoppage will cost Canada more than $540million per week and says that it's putting thousands of workers inother companies at risk of being laid off. It may be impossible to pinpoint exactly how much the strike willset the Canadian economy back, says University of Manitoba'sPrentice. But he said the costs are snowballing as supply chains foreverything from agricultural goods to car parts are disrupted. "The only time people think about the railways is when they getstopped at a crossing. But this is a vital sector of our totaleconomic well being." Impact by industry CP accounts for close to half of Canada's rail activity, and thestrike has left manufacturers scrambling to find alternate means ofmoving their goods. Those in the primary sector, such as mining and forestry, may befeeling the impact more deeply because of the sheer volume ofproducts they ship per day, which makes shifting to road transportalmost impossible. "They really will be stuck," said Bob Ballantyne, president of theCanadian Industrial Transportation Association. As an example he pointed to Vale-Inco, which is having problemstransporting nickel to processing plants in Sudbury, Ont., andThompson, Man., and then on to port in Montreal and Vancouver. Auto-parts makers are also vulnerable to production woes from therail stoppage because they tend to keep low inventories. "It certainly has presented challenges," said David Adams,president of the Association of International AutomobileManufacturers of Canada. Asian auto manufacturers have been particularly hard hit becausethey bring in so much material through Vancouver's port, he said.CP accounts for about half of the container traffic to that port. A break for some? Producers in other industries, such as technology, have been lesshard hit by comparison because they source many of their componentslocally, said Garland Chow, a professor of operations and logisticsat the University of British Columbia. And one business that could wind up gaining from the strike is CP,according to Chicago-based equity analyst Keith Schoonmaker. While the prospect of suspending shipments for a week or so mighthurt the company's quarterly profits, he said the labour disputecould be worthwhile in the end if CP's management is able to winthe negotiations and save money down the road through reducedpension benefits. "At some point the strike would be too costly, but I don't thinkanyone in the Canadian government would tolerate such a longduration," Schoonmaker said. "This will benefit the share price and I think it's just part ofthe overall improvement in margins at CP that we're going to seenew management try to take on." The strike began days after the company's chief executive officer,Fred Green, and several other members of the board of directorswere forced out by an investor revolt spearheaded by a NewYork-based capital management company, Pershing Square CapitalManagement and its aggressive CEO Bill Ackman. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Textile Auxiliary Agent , Acid Cellulase Enzyme Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Amino Silicone today!
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