Canada Rail Union Challenges Order That Ended Work Stoppage

The union representing thousands of Canada’s rail workers has filed an appeal against a government order that had forced them to return to work.

Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) locked out workers on August 22, following months of failed attempts to reach a new collective bargaining deal with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). A day later, Canada’s labor board imposed binding arbitration on the railways and union, requiring the work stoppage to end as soon as possible while the two sides continue negotiating. Now, the TCRC is challenging that decision from the labor board, claiming that it interferes with the union’s ability to collectively bargain. 

“These decisions, if left unchallenged, set a dangerous precedent where a single politician can bust a union at will,” TCRC president Paul Boucher said in an August 30 news release. “The right to collectively bargain is a constitutional guarantee. Without it, unions lose leverage to negotiate better wages and safer working conditions for all Canadians.”

According to Bloomberg, train movements at both railways are nearly back to normal following the brief lockout. CN employees went back to work on August 23, while CPKC’s returned on August 26. In a written statement, CN said that it expects the full recovery process to take “several weeks,” while CPKC said that it’s “making progress.” Union workers will remain on the job while the TCRC’s appeal works it way through federal courts in Canada.