Workers at Canadian National Railway (CNR) are set to return to work on Friday following the Canadian government’s decisive action to end a significant rail stoppage. The Teamsters union announced the return shortly after the government sought a back-to-work order from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).
While operations at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) will remain halted pending a decision from the CIRB, discussions between the union and company officials are scheduled for Friday morning. The simultaneous lockout of over 9,000 unionized workers at both major railroads triggered concerns of substantial economic damage, with estimates running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Canadian government has requested the CIRB to issue a back-to-work order promptly. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon expressed optimism that trains would resume operations within days. In addition to the back-to-work order, he called for binding arbitration between the Teamsters union and the companies, aiming to extend current labor agreements until new ones are finalized.
The situation arose after multiple rounds of negotiations failed to produce a resolution, with both sides attributing blame for the impasse. The Teamsters union announced via social media that it had dismantled picket lines at CN, signaling a shift towards resuming operations.
CN indicated that it could take a week or more to recover from the backlog of shipments caused by the shutdown. This decision by the Liberal government marks a departure from its earlier stance of allowing negotiations to continue without intervention, acknowledging the need for a swift resolution.