CN Rail ends employee lock out, binding arbitration imposed

Canada’s major railways locked out about 9,300 workers for a period of time on Thursday, after the parties failed to agree on a new contract before the deadline.

The union representing the workers, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), and their employers negotiated late into Wednesday night when talks broke off just before midnight.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) said in a statement Thursday morning that despite their best efforts, “it is clear that a negotiated outcome with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference is not within reach.”

The Canadian National Railway (CN Rail) also made a statement noting the vast implications the lockout will have on Canadians, saying “we urge the Teamsters to engage in these negotiations with an urgency and importance that this situation requires.”

The TCRC says that many offers that the union put forward were not seriously considered by either company, and state “the main obstacles to reaching an agreement remain the companies’ demands, not union proposals.”

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One supply chain expert says goods like commodities, meat, grain, petroleum and cars will be affected by the stoppage.

On August 12, both the CN Rail and the CPKC started to embargo a number of products ahead of the official lockout.

The first were hazardous goods, followed by refrigerated goods and then products coming from the U.S. to Canada before finally products from Canada to the U.S. were embargoed.

Fertilizer Canada told CHCH News that the work stoppage could be “catastrophic for their industry” and the impact across the supply chain “right down to the consumer will be tremendous.”

The association representing Canadian producers, manufacturers and retail distributors says about 75 per cent of products are shipped by rail and there are no viable alternatives.

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They say they will lose between $55 to 65 million a day in the work stoppage, and that even after the stoppage resolves it could take up to ten days to “get back to normal.”

Metrolinx confirms that due to the labour disruption it has suspended GO Train service from the Hamilton GO station and the Milton Line, affecting about 8,000 customers.

The transportation agency says that other GO lines, the UP Express and Lakeshore West line stations including Hamilton West Harbour GO station will not be impacted.

On Thursday afternoon, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon intervened, attempting to get trains moving again.

MacKinnon plans to use his powers under the Labour Code to urge the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration.

He has also asked that the board request the railways resume operations, under the terms of the current collective agreements.

Metrolinx told CHCH News after the announcement that services at Hamilton GO and Milton Line will continue to be suspended for Friday.

This is a developing story.