Canadian Rail Workers Begin Returning to Work as Stoppage Partially Ends

Employees at one of Canada’s two largest railways are set to return to work on Friday, marking the partial end of an unprecedented work stoppage following intervention by the federal government. The brief halt in operations, which affected Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), saw 9,300 workers locked out after negotiations with the Teamsters union failed to reach an agreement.

On Thursday, Canada’s Labour Minister, Seamus O’Regan, intervened by asking the federal industrial relations board to impose binding arbitration on the parties involved. As a result, CN announced that its operations would resume on Friday, while CPKC indicated that it was preparing to restart, with the exact timing still pending.

In addition to the back-to-work order, Minister O’Regan requested that the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), an independent third party, begin the process of binding arbitration between the Teamsters union and both rail companies. O’Regan expressed his expectation that railway operations would fully resume “within days.”

Early Friday morning, the Teamsters union issued a statement on X, confirming the removal of picket lines at CN. However, the statement also mentioned that the work stoppage at CPKC was still ongoing, awaiting an official order from the CIRB.

The government’s swift action aims to prevent further disruptions to Canada’s crucial supply chains, which were at risk due to the labor dispute. The partial resumption of operations is a step towards resolving the conflict, though the situation at CPKC remains to be fully resolved.