Locked-out Canadian National Railway workers stand at a picket line as locomotives are moved by management at CN Rail's Thornton Yard, in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, August 22, 2024. On Thursday, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration on the country's two main railways and their employees amid a work stoppage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
MONTREAL – Rail workers are pushing back hard against the federal government’s move to get them back on the job.
At Canadian National Railway Co., trains began to move again Friday morning as workers started to return to work – even as the Teamsters union issued a 72-hour strike notice against CN.
And at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., the union representing some 3,300 employees at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., is challenging a directive for binding arbitration issued by Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to the country’s labour board.
An unprecedented work stoppage at both national railways prompted MacKinnon to ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Thursday to use the mechanism to resolve an impasse that has halted freight shipments and snarled commuter lines across the country.
The labour board summoned the parties to a meeting Thursday night, followed by a hearing this morning.
The tribunal says it is addressing the issue “with utmost urgency.” A decision is expected later today.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CNR, TSX:CP)
