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Authored by David Lassen via Trains.com,

The Canadian government has moved to end Canada’s freight rail work stoppage – the first to shut down both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City simultaneously.

However, while the two railroads say they are preparing to resume operations after Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon sent the dispute to binding arbitration, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference says it will maintain picket lines while it reviews MacKinnon’s action.

And the CBC reports that MacKinnon’s move might not bring an immediate end to the lockouts of TCRC engineers and conductors that began at the two railroads at 12:01 a.m. today (Aug. 22).

Also locked out were rail traffic controllers at CPKC represented by the same union.

The existing contracts between the TCRC and both railways will be extended until new agreements are signed. Negotiated agreements are always preferable, MacKinnon said, but the needs of the nation outweighed the need for a contract deal reached at the bargaining table.

CN said in a statement this evening that it had ended its lockout as of 6 p.m. ET and initiated its recovery plan, acting in advance of a formal order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board “to expedite the recovery of the economy.

CPKC said it is preparing to restart operations and will provide further details about the timing once it receives the CIRB’s order.

The TCRC said it was keeping picket lines in place while it reviewed MacKinnon’s move, the response by the CIRB, and sought legal counsel.

Boucher called the decision “shameful” and said the government had made the decision “only because they knew their minority could not gather the support needed to pass a legislated resolution to appease the railways.”

Meanwhile, Lisa Raitt, labor minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper, told the CBC that the parties still have to agree to arbitration: “Maybe you can write to the CIRB and ask them to impose binding arbitration … but there’s no way a minister can write a letter and say that everyone goes back to work and I’m sending you to binding arbitration.”
MacKinnon said he is “confident” that his move will end the shutdown, but hedged in saying it would definitely do so, noting that the CIRB is an independent body.

CN and CPKC had both sought arbitration to end the dispute, with MacKinnon last week denying a request from CN to require arbitration. At the time, MacKinnon said it was the “shared responsibility” of CN and the union to negotiate in good faith.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a post on X.com that while collective bargaining is preferred:

Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez, reacting to MacKinnon’s move, wrote on X.com that the government “is acting to preserve the stability and certainty that our entire economy is renowned for across the world.”

The premiers of two prairie provinces with economies heavily reliant on rail transport — Scott Moe of Saskatchewan and Danielle Smith of Alberta, who had both called for federal action — welcomed the intervention in comments on X.com.

Moe wrote that the government “took the appropriate action … to end the rail stoppage and ensure our Canadian products are moving to market again.”

Smith wrote that she was “pleased to see” that MacKinnon had taken action.