CN and CP rails restart after labour board's return-to-work order

CN and CP railways restart after federal labour board's return-to-work order

Canadian Pacific Kansas City. (Ian Dewar Photography/Shutterstock)

Nearly 10,000 railway workers across Canada are returning to work today, following a decision on Saturday by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to suspend any lockout or strike action and impose binding arbitration between the two railway companies and the union.

On Saturday, August 24, following a direction by federal Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon on Thursday, the independent CIRB made its final decision to force a restart of the railways and the flow of supply chains.

“The Canada Industrial Relations Board has issued a decision to impose final and binding arbitration in the negotiations between CN Rail, CPKC and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference,” said MacKinnon in a post on X on Saturday, reacting to CIRB’s ruling.

“I expect that railway companies and employees will resume operations at the earliest opportunity.”

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Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) have been directing their employees — such as locomotive engineers, conductors, train and railway yard workers, and railway traffic controllers — to return to work today in preparation for a restart of the railways across Canada starting late evening on Sunday, August 25, Vancouver time.

CPKC has indicated that it will take several weeks for the railway network to fully recover from the unprecedented full work stoppage that first began late Wednesday evening, Vancouver time.

Although the shutdown began on Wednesday, both railway companies began preparing for operational disruptions more than a week in advance, such as redirecting shipments away from Canada, including dangerous goods, and preparing to safely park trains.

“CPKC has asked the TCRC for employees to return to work for the day shift on Sunday so that we can get the Canadian economy moving again as quickly as possible and avoid further disruption to supply chains. Our team is executing its restart plan for the safe and orderly resumption of rail service across Canada. We are working with customers on a balanced return to normal operations,” reads a statement by CPKC on Saturday.

In a separate statement, CN added, “While CN is disappointed an agreement could not be reached at the bargaining table, the Company is satisfied that this order effectively ends the unpredictability that has been negatively impacting supply chains for months. CN remains focused on safely getting goods moving again, as efficiently as possible.”

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) served a 72-hour strike notice to CPKC last weekend on Sunday, August 18. Both CPKC and CNR subsequently issued notices to TCRC indicating that it will lock out its members at the same time unless an agreement or binding arbitration is achieved ahead of time.

Then on Friday morning, a day after MacKinnon invoked the powers of the federal government to intervene in the labour dispute and provide a direction to the CIRB, TCRC served CN with a 72-hour strike notice effective on the morning of Monday, August 26. However, the CIRB’s direction on Saturday has now voided this strike action.

In a statement on Saturday following the CIRB’s unanimous decision, the union said it will “lawfully comply” with the ruling but also plans to appeal it to federal court.

The union accuses the companies of pushing changes that weaken existing protections relating to rest periods and scheduling, which they assert could impact safety.

“This decision by the CIRB sets a dangerous precedent. It signals to Corporate Canada 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,” said Paul Boucher, President of the TCRC, in a statement.

“The Trudeau Liberals have chosen to side against middle- and working-class Canadians, abandoning their supposed progressive values at the first sign of short-term supply chain disruptions. The Teamsters have fought to protect rail safety in Canada, improve working conditions, and prevent CN from forcing workers to relocate thousands of kilometres away from their families — and we will continue to do so.”

With much of Canada’s freight moved by the railways owned and operated by CNR and CPKC, the shutdown of the lines over a prolonged period would cost the Canadian economy billions of dollars, having a profound impact on international trade, logistics, supply chains, and manufacturing, and leading to added transportation costs for businesses to find an alternative way of transporting goods.

Canada’s major ports also depend on freight railways for a significant proportion of how cargo and goods are loaded and unloaded on ships. The railway stoppages could quickly congest the major ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, and Montreal.

The historic shutdown of Canada’s freight railways has also curtailed the public transit commuter rail services of the West Coast Express in Vancouver, Go Train in Greater Toronto, and Exo in Greater Montreal, as these services lease track time from the companies. Some VIA Rail services within Ontario have also been impacted.

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