The Teamsters union, representing workers at Canada’s two largest freight railroads, has followed through on its promise by filing lawsuits contesting the orders that required employees to return to work and resume train operations. The union is determined to challenge the notion that the government can intervene in labor disputes, thus undermining a union’s bargaining power. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government intervened in the contract disagreement after Canadian National and CPKC locked out their workers on August 22 due to concerns about the economic impact of the halted train services on numerous businesses.
Teamsters Canada Rail Conference President Paul Boucher stressed the constitutional right to engage in collective bargaining, arguing that without it, unions lose their ability to negotiate for better wages and safer working conditions for all workers. The union is confident in the legality of their stance and believes that workers’ voices will be heard as the lawsuits progress.
CPKC declined to provide a comment regarding the lawsuits, and Canadian National has remained silent on the matter. Despite the legal actions taken by the union, the trains will continue to operate as the government has mandated the union to maintain operations during the arbitration process.
Negotiations between the union, representing nearly 10,000 workers at both railroads, and the companies have been ongoing for close to a year without reaching a resolution. Disagreements arose over the railroads’ proposed shift from a mileage-based pay and scheduling system to an hourly-based structure, with the union expressing concerns that such changes would compromise safety and working conditions for employees.
The union has challenged the labor minister’s arbitration order and the Canada Industrial Relations Board decision that enforced the return-to-work order. As of now, the labor minister has not responded to inquiries regarding the lawsuits. While Canadian National was able to resume operations on the morning of August 23, CPKC faced delays and only restarted its train services on the following Monday when the government order came into effect.
