Labor court orders return of railroad workers, Teamsters announce appeal

The Federal Labor Department has ordered thousands of railroad workers back to work after a bitter wage dispute led to the closure of the country's two largest railroad companies.

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

The ruling came after Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon ordered the tribunal to begin arbitration on Thursday afternoon, saying the parties were at an impasse and Canadian businesses and trade relations were at stake.

The Teamsters union, which represents the approximately 9,300 affected workers, challenged the government's move, but on Saturday evening the committee said it had no authority 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 conductors, dispatchers and shunting workers, to resume operations starting Monday at 00:01.

The ruling not only ends the lockout and simultaneous strike at CPKC, but also invalidates the 72-hour strike notice to CN that the union issued on Friday morning.

The Teamsters said they would comply with the tribunal's decision but plan to appeal the ruling, saying it 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.

“Over the past nine months, CN has negotiated in good faith to reach an agreement at the table. The company has consistently made offers with better pay, improved rest periods, more predictable work hours and a voluntary mobile workforce,” it said in a press release.

“While CN is disappointed that an agreement could not 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.”

The Labor Court ruled that binding arbitration proceedings will 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.

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

Christopher Reynolds and Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press