Vancouver British Columbia - As the clock ticks down to Friday night's deadline to reach a settlement between two unions representing 3,400 workers and the Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP), experts warn shipments of everything from food products to consumer goods could grind to a halt.
 
Beau Storey, operations manager at Pacific Coast Terminals in Port Moody said the terminal's operations rely entirely on CP.
 
The port handles sulphur, potash, canola oil, and ethylene glycol used heavily in mining and agriculture, which arrive in Port Moody by CP trains, and are then shipped overseas.
 
When products are shipped in by rail on CP or Canadian National Railway (CN) routes, an agreement between the two rail companies stipulates that only CP can bring the products into the terminal's facilities for export to regions such as Asia, Brazil, and Australia.
 
The terminal transports roughly $1.5 billion worth of goods a year.
 
Storey estimates that the strike could affect the equivalent of 30-40 full-time staff mainly in operations who would be out of work short-term.
 
"Eventually it would impact us all if we had a strike for a year we would be laying people off."
 
If the strike does happen, Pacific Coast Terminals has enough goods in the terminal to continue shipping out containers for at least a couple of weeks.
 
A strike would involve about 3,000 conductors and locomotive engineers and 365 signal and communications workers, and it's worrying Bonnie Gee, vice-president of Chamber of Shipping, an association that represents vessel owners, operators, and shipping agencies.
 
It would have "disastrous" consequences on the province's marine gateways, which are already "constrained," she said.
 
If workers strike, there would be delays and congestion at the docks, Gee explained, and businesses would wait longer to get their products to overseas market, and stores across Canada would have to wait longer to be re-stocked.
 
A strike would also mean many freight ships coming from overseas have to wait around before they could dock and unload, thus increasing the demand for "anchorage space" near local ports in the Southern Gulf Islands.
 
Local ports are already seeing ships stay anchored for longer after a particularly difficult winter, said Gee.
 
These disruptions could turn away companies looking for more reliable schedules and services.
 
"American gateways on the west coast are eager to take some of the business away from our Canadian gateways," explained Gee.
 
On 11 Apr 2018 the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA), based in Toronto, called on the federal government to help resolve the dispute.
 
The group represents such companies as UPS and FedEx.
 
"A stoppage of rail service by CP at this time might irreparably tarnish Canada's reputation as a reliable trading nation and will most certainly contribute to congestion, delays, increased costs, and a growing sense of unreliability in Canada's supply chains."
 
Julia Kuzeljevich, public affairs manager at CIFFA, said freight forwarders across Canada are already facing surcharges, and wait times accessing terminals which are adding hours and costs in operations.
 
"Eventually it's going to add costs to the consumers," she said.
 
Jenny Peng.