By Alimat Aliyeva

Freight rail transport in Canada could come to a complete standstill this week, leading to huge economic losses, Azernews reports.

The threat of stopping freight traffic loomed after on Sunday two of the country's largest railway operators sent lockout notices to the Teamsters truck drivers union, representing almost 10,000 workers, Reuters writes.

This is the first time that the country has faced a simultaneous shutdown of work at railway enterprises. This could paralyze the supply of food grains, beans, fertilizers, coal and timber, which make up a significant part of Canada's exports, as well as affect the supply of various goods - from petroleum products to chemicals and automobiles.

In addition to the multibillion-dollar economic damage, the shutdowns could disrupt rail travel across the North American continent.

"If the labor conflict is not immediately and definitively resolved, then the CN union will have no choice but to continue the phased and gradual closure of its network, which will lead to a lockout. Despite the negotiations over the weekend, there has been no significant progress and the parties are still far from each other," CN said in a statement.

CN reports that this year she has made four proposals on wages, rest and labor availability, fully complying with the government's rules on supervision of service and rest periods.

The Federal Liberal government has so far rejected calls from business groups to intervene, saying companies and unions should resolve their differences through negotiations themselves.