The Canadian Auto Workers union is calling on the federal and provincial governments to work together on new policies it says could help protect and revitalize the country's automotive sector.

Workers in London, Ont., say they'll continue to picket even though the Electro-Motive Diesel plant is now officially closed, as the head of the Canadian Auto Workers calls for a public inquiry into the closure.

When engineers and other workers at Canadian Pacific Railway walked off the job early Wednesday, they set off a strike that could affect coal mines, farms, auto manufacturing plants and maybe even the local Canadian Tire.

The head of the Canadian Auto Workers is suggesting Caterpillar Inc. may not have followed foreign takeover rules in its 2010 purchase of the London, Ont., locomotive plant it has since shut down.

The Canadian Auto Workers union is threatening to occupy the Electro-Motive plant in London, Ont., if parent company Caterpillar doesn't offer the out-of-work employees a severance package it deems reasonable.