(Ottawa) The federal government will have “more to say soon” about what it intends to do about the lockouts declared by Canada’s two largest railway companies, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) have locked out 9,300 locomotive engineers, mechanics and yard workers after the two sides failed to agree on new labour contracts by a midnight deadline on Thursday.
During his visit to a Sherbrooke factory on Thursday morning, Mr. Trudeau said the Liberal government “takes this so seriously” and is working to find the right solution for the economy.
“It’s definitely not just one company: it’s the entire Canadian economy that’s at risk,” he said. “Workers, farmers, small businesses.”
Business associations earlier this week urged the federal government to step in with binding arbitration or back-to-work legislation, warning that a rail shutdown would have huge economic consequences.
PHOTO CHRISTINNE MUSCHI, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mr. Trudeau made a brief statement in Sherbrooke on Thursday, but he did not answer questions from reporters about what his government intends to do.
NDP rejects any “interference”
New Democrats will not support back-to-work legislation or any interference in the bargaining process, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh warned Thursday. In a statement, the NDP leader criticized the two companies for locking out their workers and said they should negotiate with Teamsters Canada.
He said CN and CPKC locked out their workers because they “expect the Liberals to do what they usually do: step in to help the company and hurt the workers with mandatory arbitration or back-to-work legislation.”
By repeatedly setting this anti-worker precedent, Justin Trudeau has sent a clear message to CEOs: he will reward big corporations that refuse to negotiate in good faith by serving up their workers on a silver platter.
Jagmeet Singh, NDP leader
Singh visited locked-out workers on a picket line outside a CN facility in Lachine, on Montreal’s West Island, on Thursday. Accompanied by Montreal NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice, he chanted with the workers “So-So-So-Solidarity!” as trucks drove by on a busy industrial street.
PHOTO RYAN REMIORZ, THE CANADIAN PRESS
New Democrats will not support back-to-work legislation or any interference in the bargaining process, Jagmeet Singh warned Thursday.
The NDP leader promised them he would fight what he called the Trudeau government’s “interference” in the dispute, including forced arbitration or back-to-work legislation.
A spokesman for the Minister of Labour said Steven MacKinnon was in meetings all day Thursday and was monitoring the situation closely. MacKinnon said on X Thursday that he had spoken to his American counterpart about the work stoppages and the importance of the rail sector to both countries.
Mr. Trudeau made a brief statement in Sherbrooke on Thursday, but he did not answer questions from reporters about what his government intended to do. “The minister is on it. I am on it myself. We will have more to say soon, but know that we are here to work on it,” he said.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government last enacted back-to-work legislation in 2021, in order to force dockworkers at the Port of Montreal to end their strike.
The Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois did not immediately comment Thursday on the lockouts.