Federal government intervenes to end railway labour dispute through binding arbitration

MacKinnon has instructed the arms-length Canada Industrial Relations Board to carry out the arbitration, resumption of services and to extend the collective agreement until a new one is in place.

The ruling Liberal government operates in partnership with the New Democrats. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said his party would not support back-to-work legislation in parliament.

MacKinnon’s approach does not require parliamentary approval.

READ: Federal government uses binding arbitration to end rail lockout

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Our live coverage of the railway labour dispute has completed.

Here’s our previous coverage:

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Picketing begins in Medicine Hat

12:10 p.m. | 📌 Pinned

Picketing in Medicine Hat started when the planned rail company lockout began at 10:01 p.m. on Wednesday, a local union leader told CHAT News.

Striking workers will walk the picket line in front of the CPKC Rail Medicine Hat Yard from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day for the duration of the lockout.

READ: Medicine Hat railway workers start picketing as lockout begins

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Smith calls for back-to-work legislation

1:20 p.m.

Premier Danielle Smith and three of her cabinet ministers called on the federal government to intervene in the strike in a Thursday statement.

“While we respect the collective bargaining process, the collateral damage to Canadians, our businesses and our country’s international reputation is too high to allow the simultaneous disruption of both of these railways to continue,” Smith and the ministers said.

“The federal government must urgently intervene with binding arbitration or reconvene Parliament to immediately pass back-to-work legislation.”

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‘This isn’t my first rodeo’

12:20 p.m.

Locked-out rail workers have been marching back and forth across the narrow road leading into CPKC’s head office in Calgary.

A few passing cars honked their horns in support. One man in a white truck yelled out his window: “Get back to work.”

Local Teamsters president Bill Merriman said he hopes both sides can go back to the table and come to a negotiated settlement.

“I’m optimistic but I’m also a realist. This isn’t my first rodeo so I know this one’s going to go the distance,” he said.

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B.C. update

11:50 a.m.

Rail commuters in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland must find alternative transportation after Canada’s two major railways locked out workers in their first-ever simultaneous stoppage.

A bulletin from TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s transportation network, says service on the West Coast Express is suspended due to the stoppage, which follows a break down in talks with the union.

The line serves communities between Vancouver and Mission, about 67 kilometres to the east, with stops in the Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and Coquitlam areas.

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Mining concerns

10:34 a.m.

The Mining Association of Canada says the rail stoppages are keeping companies in the sector from transporting products to and from domestic and international customers and suppliers.

The organization says crude and processed mineral products have made up more than half of the total freight volume transported by rail in Canada for the last decade.

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Update expected soon

10:30 a.m.

The federal government will have “more to say shortly” on what it’s doing to resolve a lockout at Canada’s two biggest rail companies, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the parties did not agree on new contracts before a midnight deadline.

READ: Trudeau says update coming soon

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NDP says it will not back legislation

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will not support back-to-work legislation or any “interference” in the bargaining process after Canada’s two largest railway companies locked out their employees.

Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the two sides failed to agree on a new contract before the midnight deadline.

In a statement today, Singh criticized the companies for locking out their employees and said they should be bargaining with Teamsters Canada.

A spokesman for Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon says the minister is in meetings all day on the rail shutdown and is following the matter closely.

The last time the Liberal government enacted back-to-work legislation was in 2021, to end a strike by dockworkers at the Port of Montreal.

Business groups have urged the government to step in with binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation, warning that the shutdown will have massive economic consequences.

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Bargaining to resume

10:30 a.m.

Bargaining between workers and the country’s two largest railways set to resume.

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Essential shipments

9:30 a.m.

A group representing 97,000 small- and medium-sized businesses says its members are concerned about not getting essential shipments of aviation gas for forest fighting equipment, manufacturing materials, vehicle parts, retail products and agricultural equipment.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the stoppages will also lead to less availability of grocery and drugstore goods, including baby formula.

Some small businesses have already told the organization they will need to halt operations because they will no longer be able to receive critical materials or meet contractual obligations.

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Ontario premier calls for bargaining

8:44 a.m.

Ontario’s premier called on CN and CKPC to get back to the table and reach a fair deal.

Doug Ford said in a post on X that the rail shutdown had already cost workers, transit users and businesses across the country.

“We cannot afford to let things get worse,” he said.

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Rail shutdown begins

10:01 p.m. Wednesday

Both companies lock out workers bringing rail traffic at Canada’s two largest railways to a halt.

READ: National rail shutdown begins as employees locked out

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This is a developing story. Refresh for the latest.

by CHAT News Staff/Canadian Press