Railways to resume operations; union blasts CIRB ruling

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) said its railway operations will restart in Canada by 12:01 a.m. ET Monday, Aug. 26, following the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) order requiring CPKC and CN Rail to resume operations and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) employees to resume their duties.

CN also said it will comply with the order which extends the current collective agreement until a new agreement is signed between the parties.

Over the last nine months, CN said it negotiated in good faith to reach a deal at the table. The company said it consistently proposed offers with better pay, improved rest, more predictable schedules and a voluntary mobile workforce.

“While CN is disappointed an agreement could not be reached at the bargaining table, the company is satisfied that this order effectively ends the unpredictability that has been negatively impacting supply chains for months,” CN said in a statement.

CPKC said it asked TCRC for employees to return to work for the day shift on Sunday (Aug. 25) so it could get the Canadian economy moving again as quickly as possible and avoid further disruption to supply chains.

CPKC’s team is executing its restart plan for the safe and orderly resumption of rail service across Canada. The company is working with customers on a balanced return to normal operations.

Scott Shannon, vice-president for Canada and cross-border logistics at C.H. Robinson, said getting rail operations back to normal levels takes time.

“From our experience with previous rail strikes in Canada, we expect it to take up to a week for each railroad to be fully reset and running smoothly again,” he said. “It will take much longer to catch up with shipments that have gotten backlogged. Railroads are like an outdoor conveyor belt that never quits running. They’re designed to operate 24/7, not stop and start. Just like they couldn’t flip a switch to shut down at midnight on the strike deadline, they can’t flip a switch to restart the conveyor belt.”

CIRB will be convening a case management meeting with the parties Aug. 29 to discuss the imposition of final binding interest arbitration.

As specified in CIRB’s order, the existing collective agreements between the company and the union are in force.

CIRB’s order was issued following the Canadian Minister of Labour’s direction on Aug. 22 pursuant to his authority under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code.

The CIRB order ends months of uncertainty and disruption for the Canadian economy and North American supply chains. CPKC said it anticipates 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.

TCRC said it will lawfully comply with the CIRB decision, but will appeal the ruling to federal court as it “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 Paul Boucher, president of the TCRC. “The Trudeau Liberals have chosen to side against middle- and working-class Canadians, abandoning their supposed progressive values at the first sign of short-term supply chain disruptions. The Teamsters have fought to protect rail safety in Canada, improve working conditions and prevent CN from forcing workers to relocate thousands of kilometres away from their families—and we will continue to do so.”

Boucher said he has left Montreal and is headed to Halifax to protest the decision at the Liberal Caucus Retreat.