Unifor members at General Motors’ CAMI Assembly Plant in Ingersoll, Ont. voted overwhelmingly Aug. 25 to approve a strike mandate, as bargaining teams from the union and automaker prepare for contract talks in September. 

A work stoppage at Canada’s two biggest railroads will impact new-vehicle inventory within two weeks if the two companies and the union representing affecting workers can’t be reached, industry analysts say. That has some new-vehicle dealers calling for government intervention.

In a first for Canada, freight traffic on its two largest railways has simultaneously ground to a halt, threatening to upend the automotive industry and other supply chains trying to move forward from pandemic-related disruptions and a port strike last year.

OTTAWA — Canadian National Railway, one of Canada's two main rail companies, formally notified the Teamsters union in Canada on Aug. 18 that it would start locking out union workers early on Aug. 22. It’s a move that could impact the country’s auto industry.