A Canadian railway workers union has notified Canadian National Railway that its members intend to strike next week.
The 72-hour strike notice issued Friday from Teamsters Canada Rail Conference came hours after trains began rolling again. Union members were locked out from their jobs on Thursday until the government stepped in to force the railroads and the union into arbitration.
The strike notice means a new work stoppage for Canadian National is slated to start Monday morning.
Teamsters Canada filed its strike notice shortly after it announced that it would challenge a government order forcing the union into binding arbitration with Canada’s two major freight railroad companies: Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, the two railroads that had locked out Teamsters on Thursday.
The Teamsters union represents more than 9,000 Canadian rail workers, and Canadian National is the larger of the two railroads.
Canadian Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon decided to force the parties into binding arbitration because, he said, the economic fallout from the work stoppage was too great. The Canada Industrial Relations Board is overseeing the arbitration.
Canada, the second-largest nation in the world in terms of total area, behind Russia, relies heavily on its railroads to move commodities and goods.
Teamsters Canada President Francois Laporte said he was not in favor of the minister’s call for arbitration.
"The best way to have a contract is at the bargaining table,” Laporte said. We don't believe a third party [should] decide what are going to be our working conditions.”
The union is prepared to negotiate with Canadian National over the weekend over its disputes, which involve scheduling, length of shifts and worker availability.
“This is not about disobeying the minister’s order. It’s about exercising our right,” Laporte said Friday when he announced Monday’s strike.
CPKC is not involved in the strike and had no comment, nor did the Canadian government.
“While CN is focused on its recovery plan and powering the economy, Teamsters are focused on getting back to the picket line and holding the North American economy hostage to their demands,” railroad spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis said after the union issued the strike notice.
CN and CPKC trains are responsible for carrying a multitude of goods worth billions of dollars, not only throughout Canada but also to the U.S. and Mexico. Canadian commuters who use the railways’ trains were also affected by the recent work stoppage.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
