Canadian National Rail employees will soon be returning to work as the Teamsters union served the company with a 72-hour strike notice on Friday, saying that it would begin taking down picket lines.
“The lockout at CN is now over, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has taken down picket lines at CN. Workers will begin returning to work on Friday,” CN director of public affairs Christopher Monette told True North.
However, the work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Kansas City remains ongoing, pending an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board, an independent arbiter instructed to negotiate a deal by Labour Minister Steve Mackinnon.
Mackinnon utilized section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which enables Ottawa to refer a labour dispute to the CIRB for resolution on Thursday.
“I have also directed the board to extend the term of the current collective agreements until new agreements have been signed, and for operations on both railways to resume forthwith,” Mackinnon told reporters on Thursday evening.
The country’s two largest railways both locked out workers at 12:01 on Thursday morning after failing to reach new contract agreements with the union.
CPKC officials are scheduled to meet with the union and the board on Friday, aiming to finalize a deal. While the rail company said it’s prepared to resume service following the meeting with the CIRB, union officials have refused and are looking to make submissions to challenge Mackinnon’s intervention on constitutional grounds.
“The work stoppage at CPKC remains ongoing pending an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board . Despite the Labour Minister’s referral, there is no clear indication that the CIRB will actually order an end to the labour dispute at CPKC,” said Monette.
The two rail companies locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers as a result of negotiations breaking down, following months of an increasingly strained relationship between the parties involved.
Union employee rest time, scheduling and wages were at issue during the negotiations.
Together, rail companies hauled around $1 billion in goods daily and industry groups warned the federal government that a long-lasting work stoppage could have catastrophic effects on Canada’s economy.
While the economic effects may not immediately be felt by many Canadians, over 32,000 rail commuters were instantly forced to find alternative means of travel for work in cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as a result of the strike.