NDP won’t support back-to-work legislation for rail lockout, Singh says
By The Canadian Press on August 22, 2024.
OTTAWA – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will not support back-to-work legislation or any “interference” in the bargaining process after Canada’s two largest railway companies locked out their employees. Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the two sides failed to agree on a new contract before the midnight deadline. In a statement today, Singh criticized the companies for locking out their employees and said they should be bargaining with Teamsters Canada. A spokesman for Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon says the minister is in meetings all day on the rail shutdown and is following the matter closely. The last time the Liberal government enacted back-to-work legislation was in 2021, to end a strike by dockworkers at the Port of Montreal. Business groups have urged the government to step in with binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation, warning that the shutdown will have massive economic consequences. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2024. 8-7
