Unions representing thousands of rail workers have appealed the measures that ended last week’s rail blockade – a labor strike that halted freight and commuter traffic across the country.
In filings with the Federal Court of Appeal, the Teamsters union is challenging a binding arbitration directive issued by Labour Minister Stephen McKinnon to the Labour Board following the lockout of 9,300 railroad workers at Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway.
Following MacKinnon’s direction, the Canada Labour Relations Board ordered the country’s two largest rail companies to resume service and return employees to work until new contracts can be worked out through binding arbitration.
The unions are challenging not only the government directions but also the tribunal’s decision.
Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canadian Railway Congress, said the action sets a “dangerous precedent” that threatens constitutional guarantees for collective bargaining.
“Without it, unions will lose the power to negotiate better wages and safer working conditions for all Canadians,” Boucher said in a statement.
Industry groups sounded the alarm
Railroads and some industry groups say the Labor Secretary’s action, which rejected the Teamsters’ request for arbitration, ended months of unnecessary uncertainty and calmed supply chain disruptions.
CN said the arbitration was a neutral process that was “not dependent on outcomes” and aimed at breaking the deadlock.
“CN preferred a negotiated resolution,” CN spokeswoman Ashley Michnowski said in an email.
“However, after nine months of efforts to reach a settlement, it has become clear that the Teamsters do not want a solution and are content to keep up the pressure by harming the Canadian economy.”
McKinnon issued the return to work order less than 17 hours after the lockout (as well as a strike by CPKC workers and a strike by CN workers) went into effect. He said negotiations had stalled and Canadian businesses, job security and trade relations were at risk.
Industry groups have been sounding the alarm for weeks about the economic impact of a prolonged shutdown, and to avoid backlogs of cargo, CN and CPKC have been gradually winding down operations for nearly three weeks.
Shipments of cargo ranging from auto parts to crude oil, consumer goods, grains and potash came to a complete halt last week, temporarily disrupting supply chains.
More than 30,000 commuters in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver were also unable to board passenger trains that run on CPKC-owned tracks.
The federal labour board’s decision ends a lockout that had disrupted freight transport across the country and commuter lines in the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver areas, meaning rail transport, transporting people and freight, is returning to normal.
The labor board’s Aug. 24 ruling requires the railroad to continue operations and workers to remain at work until arbitration is completed.
The unions filed four separate appeals in Toronto court late Thursday afternoon, seeking a judicial order “setting aside” the minister’s directions and the Labour Tribunal’s decisions regarding CN and CPKC.
The petition seeks to set aside these decisions and the Minister’s orders to the Committee on the grounds that the Minister’s orders to the Committee were “extraterritorial”, i.e. beyond the Minister’s jurisdiction.
The court documents also state that the directive and the board’s decision violate the freedom of association enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
After weeks of bitter confrontation, the Teamsters and the two railroads are scheduled to meet next month for the first time since the strike to discuss a timeline for binding arbitration.
