AFP – Canada’s industrial relations board on Saturday ordered striking rail workers back on the job and imposed binding arbitration to settle labour disputes at two major freight carriers that threatened to upend the North American economy.
Stoppages began on Thursday morning at both Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), locking out nearly 10,000 workers with the Teamsters union.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government moved quickly to end the strikes, sending the disputes to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to be resolved by an arbitrator.
The board ordered strikes to end by today.
The Teamsters union said it would comply with the ruling but that it would also file an appeal in federal court.
President Paul Boucher of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said the decision “sets a dangerous precedent” by signalling that “large companies need only stop their operations for a few hours, inflict short-term economic pain, and the federal government will step in to break a union”.
“The rights of Canadian workers have been significantly diminished today,” he added.
CN said it was “disappointed an agreement could not be reached at the bargaining table”, but welcomed the independent tribunal’s order that “effectively ends the unpredictability that has been negatively impacting supply chains for months”.
CN’s employees had already returned to work on Friday morning, but hours later the union filed a strike notice for today – which is now voided. CPKC’s workers, meanwhile, had initially refused to resume operations as they contested the constitutionality of the government intervention.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said on X that he expected the “rail companies and employees will resume operations at the earliest opportunity”.
Canada is the world’s second-largest country by area, and relies heavily on rail transport.
CN and CPKC tracks stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific and south into the United States (US), carrying an estimated CAD1 billion (USD730 million) worth of goods daily.
This was the first time Canada faced simultaneous work stoppages at the two rail companies, which in the past have negotiated labour deals in alternate years.
Business groups and farmers had warned of costly disruptions to the G7 economy, with fallout also for the US with which Canada shares deeply integrated supply chains.
The disputes centered around workers’ concerns over long hours and fatigue, leading to dangerous working conditions.
The companies and the union have blamed each other for the work stoppage that followed nine months of fruitless negotiations.
In asking the CIRB for binding arbitration, MacKinnon said on Friday, “Canada’s economy cannot wait for an agreement that has been delayed for a very long time and when there is a fundamental disagreement between the parties”.
