A coalition of business associations is calling on the federal government to prevent a work stoppage at Canada’s two largest railway companies.
The gradual closure of the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) networks is already underway, while time is running out in negotiations with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.
If no agreement is reached in the next few hours, the rail service of both companies could be interrupted at midnight on Thursday.
In a joint statement Wednesday, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters said Ottawa must “take immediate action” to ensure rail services continue.
These associations argue that the federal Minister of Labour can refer the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board for binding arbitration to “prohibit a strike or lockout or end the current work stoppage until the dispute is resolved.”
In addition, business associations are suggesting that the government convene Parliament and present a back-to-work law.
The House of Commons is due to resume normally in almost a month, on September 16.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon has repeatedly stressed that the parties need to reach a negotiated agreement, rather than relying on federal intervention, such as the adoption of special back-to-work legislation.
Asked about this in Gatineau on Wednesday morning, Justin Trudeau indicated that Minister MacKinnon had met with both parties on Tuesday and that he was now in Calgary “to continue the work.”
“My message is very clear: it is in the interest of both sides to get the job done and find a resolution at the negotiating table,” said the Prime Minister. “Millions of Canadians, workers, farmers, businesses are counting on these negotiations to get the Canadian economy moving in the right way.”
Freight and commuter trains
Experts say the strike by 9,300 CN and CPKC employees would be unprecedented, as it would be the first simultaneous work stoppage by the country’s two largest railway companies.
Their trains carry a combined $1 billion worth of goods daily, from canola to consumer electronics, according to the Railway Association of Canada.
U.S. railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern have shut down most cross-border shipping, while shipping giants like Hapag-Lloyd have drawn up “contingency plans” and others are rerouting goods in other ways.
More than 32,000 commuter train users across the country, such as those on Exo in the Montreal region, will also have to find an alternative solution in the event of a work stoppage at the CPKC.
Transit companies have warned that some commuter train lines that run on CPKC tracks in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver will be suspended if dispatchers walk off the job.
Exo’s Candiac, Saint-Jérôme and Vaudreuil Hudson lines in the greater Montreal area would be affected by this labour dispute at CPKC. Exo assures that no impact is expected for the Mont-Saint-Hilaire and Mascouche lines, which operate on the CN network.
TransLink’s West Coast Express transit line in the Vancouver area, Metrolinx’s Milton line and GO’s Lakeshore line in Hamilton, in the Greater Toronto Area, would also be affected.