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Rail Strike at Canadian National Calls for Lay-offs in Halifax

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As the rail strike at Canadian National Railway Company (CNI - Free Report) continues for more than a week shaking up the economy, union members receive lay-off notices.

The Unifor union received a notice on the lay-off of 70 workers at a Nova Scotia facility effective Thursday, who tackle vehicles shipped in and out of Canada. Regarding these job cuts in Halifax due to the strike, management stated, “this strike has affected all of our operations, including at our autoport facilities.”

The strike led by about 3,200 conductors and railyard operators of the company began on Nov 19 with workers agitating over safety issues, working conditions including time to take break, and benefits.

 
With Canada depending heavily on railroads for transportation of freight, such as crops, potash, coal and manufactured goods to ports and the United States, it is needless to say that the strike dealt a major blow to the economy. Per Bob Masterson, CEO, the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, “many of Canada’s chemistry facilities will be entering shutdown mode –- either because they have nowhere left to store products, or because they can no longer receive the materials necessary for their operations.” Additionally, with majority of propane shipped by rail, its movement is being affected. Farmers have already been grappling with poor harvest season and now in the wake of this rail strike, they are unable to transport crops like canola, wheat and barley.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Canadian National carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are Kansas City Southern , Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT - Free Report) and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (VLRS - Free Report) . While Allegiant sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Kansas City Southern and Controladora Vuela carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Kansas City Southern, Allegiant Travel and Controladora Vuela have soared more than 61%, 69% and 100%, respectively, so far this year.

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