While the federal government ordered binding arbitration to end the labour disputes shutting down railways across Canada on Thursday, it doesn’t appear the situation will quickly be resolved.
As of Friday morning, around 6,500 CN Rail workers who were locked out by the railway on Thursday have given 72-hour notice that they plan to strike on Monday, August 26.
CN lifted its lockout of members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference after the federal labour minister invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code in an attempt to end the dispute. Teamsters who work for CN and were picketing on Thursday, are returning to work on Friday with the prospect of walking off the job again on Monday.
While the union served strike notice to CPKC earlier this week, CN workers were locked out and not on strike.
“We do not believe that any of the matters we have been discussing over the last several days are insurmountable and we remain available for discussion in order to resolve this matter without a further work stoppage,” say union representatives in the notice to CN’s labour relations team.
CN says the strike notice “confirms that the Teamsters never took negotiations seriously and that they had no desire to reach a deal.”
The impact of the union serving strike notice will depend on the timing of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), says CN. “It is in the national interest of Canada that the CIRB rule quickly, before even more harm is caused.”
Meanwhile, the work stoppage continues on CPKC’s rail network as of Friday morning. The union is looking to challenge the constitutionality of the government’s actions limiting its members’ ability to strike. The railway, union, and Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) were scheduled to meet Friday morning.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said he hoped trains would be running within days after announcing late Thursday that the government was invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to have the CIRB begin the process of binding arbitration, while resuming rail service and extending existing collective agreements in the meantime.
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Labour minister orders binding arbitration to end railway shutdown
Government inaction on rail strike has Canada “sleep walking into a calamity”
