Rail strike could have swift impacts at grocery stores, Dalhousie professor says

Nova Scotians could see empty shelves at local grocery stores “within days” if a railway strike happens this week, according to a professor at Dalhousie University.

Around 9,000 workers at Canada’s two major railways could go on strike as early as Thursday, and that has the country’s food industry on edge.

Dalhousie’s’ Sylvain Charlebois says shipments of many frozen and refrigerated goods has been halted in preparation for potential labour action, and other products will soon disappear if the strikes occur.

“If the conflict lasts a week or two, you may not see much impact at all, but after that everything is on the table unfortunately,” Charlebois told The Todd Veinotte Show. “As far as access and empty shelves, we could start seeing some pictures showing empty shelves within days.”

Charlebois says for each day of labour strike, it will take a week for the system to recover.

“So lets say the strike lasts seven days, you’re looking at more than a month to recover, and that increases costs as well,” he said.

The union for Canadian Pacific Kansas City workers has issued strike notice with CN Rail saying it would lock out Teamsters Canada workers if no deal is reached.