Labor court orders rail workers to return, while Teamsters plan to appeal

Freight trains must be the first to start rolling again on Monday morning. The Federal Labor Office decided this on Saturday and ordered thousands of rail workers back to work to end a bitter wage dispute that had led to the closure of the country's two largest railroad companies.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board's decision requires all parties involved to engage in binding arbitration following an unprecedented work stoppage at Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City that brought freight traffic to a halt and disrupted commuter traffic across the country.

But the matter may not be finally resolved yet, as the Teamsters union, which represents employees at both companies, has announced that it will appeal the ruling.

The panel's decision came two days after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon ordered the independent arbitrator to begin arbitration, saying the parties were at an impasse and Canadian businesses and trade relations were at stake.

The union representing the 9,300 affected workers challenged the government's move before the committee, but the court said it had no jurisdiction to rule on the validity of the minister's order.

“The Board has concluded that in this case it has neither discretion nor ability to refuse to implement the Minister's instructions in whole or in part or to change their terms,” ​​wrote Chair Ginette Brazeau in two rulings.

Brazeau called on the two companies, as well as the affected train drivers, conductors, dispatchers and shunting yard workers, to resume operations starting Monday at 00:01.

The ruling not only ends the lockout and simultaneous strike at CPKC, but also effectively nullifies the 72-hour strike notice given by the union to CN on Friday morning.

The Teamsters said they would comply with the court's decision but planned to appeal because the decision sets “a dangerous precedent.”

“It sends a message to the Canadian economy that all it takes is for large companies to shut down for a few hours and inflict short-term economic losses on them, and the government will step in and break the union,” said Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.

“The rights of Canadian workers were significantly curtailed today,” he said in a press release.

Canada's largest railway company said it wants to increase its transportation as quickly as possible.

“While CN is disappointed that no agreement could be reached at the negotiating table, the company is pleased that this order effectively ends the unpredictability that has negatively impacted supply chains for months.”

Canadian Pacific said the lockout imposed on its employees on Thursday morning had ended and asked them to return to work on Sunday to “avoid further disruption to supply chains.”

A union spokesman said the company's request to resume operations before Monday had been rejected – despite the labor minister's statement on Saturday that he expected “railway companies and employees to resume operations at the earliest possible date.”

“The CIRB order ends months of unnecessary uncertainty and disruption to the Canadian economy,” the CPKC said in a press release.

The company expects full restoration to take several weeks, citing the gradual shutdowns of both rail lines that began about two weeks ago. As time for negotiations ran out, carriers became more cautious about leaving cargo – from meat to medicines, chlorine and other dangerous goods – on the tracks in the event of a work stoppage.

The Labor Court ruled that binding arbitration proceedings would begin on August 29.

Freight traffic and some commuter routes across Canada came to a halt on Thursday as CN and CPKC locked out their workers after months of increasingly bitter wage negotiations failed to produce an agreement.

It was the first time that there were simultaneous strikes on the railways.

CPKC workers simultaneously began a lockout that went into effect early Thursday morning. The shipyards were still closed on Saturday. CN lifted the lockout on Thursday and freight traffic resumed on Friday morning.

The Teamsters have said both companies are trying to loosen rules on rest periods, shift length and scheduling, putting worker safety at risk. CN also has plans to transfer some employees to distant locations for several months to fill labor gaps, the union said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 24, 2024.

Christopher Reynolds and Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press