There is still uncertainty about the possible return of commuter trains on lines affected by the labour dispute. While exo “takes it for granted” that no trains will run by Monday, rail workers are waiting for the decision of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to make a decision.
“It’s an extremely fluid situation on our end,” said Christopher Monette, director of public affairs for the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) workers’ union, which includes exo.
The reason is that CPKC employees are waiting to find out whether the CCRI will implement Ottawa’s instructions to impose a return to work and binding arbitration to determine their working conditions.
We don’t know if it will come tonight or tomorrow, but for now on the CPKC side, the members remain on the picket lines, because our goal is to be able to negotiate an agreement directly with a company.
Christopher Monette, director of public affairs for the Canadian Pacific Workers Kansas City (CPKC) union
He recalls that when a strike ends, both parties must agree on a return to work protocol so that employees can return in an orderly manner.
“Technically, it doesn’t take long, but these are not things that we can start working on without knowing what the CCRI is going to do with this labour dispute,” explains the union spokesperson.
Since the beginning of August, a standoff has been raging between employees of the Canadian National Railway Company (CN), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and their respective employers.
In response, both companies issued lockout notices to their union members, the Teamsters. The latter then responded with a strike notice that resulted last Wednesday in the launch of lockouts by the railway companies.
Faced with the situation getting bogged down, the federal government intervened to impose binding arbitration between the parties.
No trains during the weekend
For its part, exo explains that it is “awaiting the necessary information from the CPKC in order to be able to plan the resumption of service on the lines.”
The spokesperson for the transport company operating on the Montreal suburbs, Eric Edström, says that no trains should run this weekend.
“The situation being very volatile, we will wait until Sunday afternoon to decide whether we have any chance of resuming [du service] and when, explains the spokesperson for exo. Unless things move very quickly, we take it for granted that on Monday it won’t work.”
He maintains, however, that the shuttle system which is planned to compensate for the service interruptions will indeed take place next Monday when the school year is in full swing.
Eric Edström maintains that even if things improve, it will take several hours to get the trains back up and running and back on the entire network.