maaxx.ca

By Allison Lampert

The Canada Industrial Relations Board on Saturday ordered an end to strikes at the country’s largest railway companies, marking an end to unprecedented service disruptions at the country’s two main freight rail operators that had threatened Canada’s export-driven economy.

The independent labour arbitration institute made the decision after Canada called Thursday for an end to the impasse in separate negotiations between more than 9,000 Teamsters members, Canadian National Railway (TSX:) and Canadian Pacific (NYSE:) in Kansas City.

The Teamsters said in a statement that workers’ rights were “significantly compromised” by the decision and that they would appeal to federal court.

The board’s decision is the latest twist in the labour dispute at CN and CPKC that locked out Teamsters members Thursday, triggering a simultaneous strike by rail workers that business groups say could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damage.

Canada, the second largest country in the world by land area, relies heavily on railways to transport various products and goods.

Canadian Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said on social media site X that he hoped “rail companies and their employees will resume operations as quickly as possible.”

The decision will allow rail operations to resume at CPKC, where workers were previously locked out and on strike, at 12:01 a.m. ET (0401 GMT) Monday, the railroad said in a statement.

A Teamsters spokesman said workers would not return early, although the CPKC asked employees to return Sunday.

“We estimate that it will take several weeks for the rail network to fully recover from this strike and a longer period than that needed for the supply chain to stabilise,” the CPKC said.

The board’s decision averts a planned strike Monday by locomotive engineers, conductors and other workers at Montreal-based CN, just days after Canada’s largest railway ended its lockdown and began restoring service. The Teamsters confirmed its CN workers will not strike Monday following the CIRB decision.

In addition to ordering an end to the strike, the council implemented the government’s request to impose binding arbitration on the parties to reach a new agreement and to impose the continuation of existing contracts until a new agreement is reached.

“This decision by the CIRB sets a dangerous precedent,” said Paul Boucher, president of the Canadian Teamsters Rail Conference. “It sends a signal to Canadian businesses that big companies only have to shut down operations for a few hours, causing short-term economic hardship, and the federal government will step in to break the union.”

A CN spokesperson said the company would prefer a negotiated settlement, but “we are confident this ends the strike.”

These disruptions could greatly affect farmers and agricultural businesses in Canada and the United States.

Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association, which represents grain companies, said the association has been urging the government for weeks to refer the matter to the CIRB.

“This means that the government is actually listening to what Canadians are telling them,” he said. “We can’t inflict our own wounds on the economy.”

Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the U.S. Soybean Transportation Coalition, said the Canadian government must step in to help farmers who depend on smooth cross-border trade.

“We don’t take sides between the railroads and the railroad workers,” Steenhoek said. “However, we are on the side of American farmers.”

On Thursday, MacKinnon said his decision to refer the case to the CIRB would survive a legal challenge given its broad powers under the country’s labour code.

The Teamsters Union wants its members’ working conditions and wages to be determined through negotiation, despite disputes with CN and CP over schedules, shift lengths and availability. CN, for example, wants its employees to work up to 12 hours, up from 10 hours in the current agreement, a measure the union opposes.