Following a request from Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon, the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) on Aug. 24 ordered more than 9,000 members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) to get back on the job at Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPKC).
“The board has concluded that, in this case, it has no discretion or ability to refuse to implement, in whole or in part, the minister’s directions or modify their terms,” the CIRB said in its decision, signed on behalf of Chairwoman Ginette Brazeau. The decision was unanimous.
The TCRC announced on Aug. 24 that it will “lawfully comply” with the decision, but a strike notice remained in effect at CN for 10 a.m. on Aug.26 and the union said it plans to appeal the decision to the Federal Court.
“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 TCRC President Paul Boucher.
“Rest assured, we will be challenging these rulings in court,” Boucher added. Union members said they would protest on Aug. 27 outside of a Liberal Party of Canada Laurier Club fundraiser in Halifax, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was scheduled to attend.
CN trains started rolling again on Aug. 23, one day after the lockout, and CPKC expected operations to commence early on Aug. 26. The CIRB directed all parties to attend a meeting on Aug. 29 about the implementation of the arbitration process.
CN said in a news release that it is “satisfied that this order effectively ends the unpredictability that has been negatively impacting supply chains for months.” The company stressed that the CIRB has also ordered that no further work stoppages, including a lockout or strike, can occur during the arbitration process.
“This means that the strike notice recently issued to CN by the Teamsters is now voided,” the railroad said. “CN will comply with the order which also extends the current collective agreement until a new agreement is signed between the parties.”
CPKC said in an Aug. 24 statement that it was “executing its restart plan for the safe and orderly resumption of rail service across Canada,” and “working with customers on a balanced return to normal operations.”
“The CIRB order ends months of unnecessary uncertainty and disruption for the Canadian economy and North American supply chains,” CPKC added. “We anticipate it will take several weeks for the railway network to fully recover from this work stoppage and a period of time beyond that for supply chains to stabilize.”