Canada rail dispute: Union issues fresh strike notice, despite government order for binding arbitration

TORONTO (ICIS)–Labor union Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) on Friday issued a strike notice for Monday, 26 August, against railroad Canadian National (CN).

The move surprises as railroads CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) said earlier they were preparing to resume operations after a government order on Thursday that referred the labor dispute between TCRC and the railroads to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) for binding arbitration.

The country’s labor minister issued the order after the railroads locked out about 9,300 workers and shut down operations on Thursday, 22 August, 00:01 Eastern Time.

In Friday’s strike notice, TCRC said that about 6,500 unionized CN workers would withdraw their service starting Monday, 26 August, 10:00 Eastern Time.

However, it added that its differences with CN were not “insurmountable” and that it remained available for discussions to avoid a further work stoppage at CN.

TCRC’s strike notice also surprises because the union said earlier that it took down picked lines again CN and that unionized CN workers would start returning to work on Friday. Picket lines at CPKC, however, would remain in place, the union said.

Teamsters president Francois Laporte said in remarks to public broadcaster CBC/RDI on Friday that the union was looking at its legal options and would “use our constitutional rights” to “fight” for workers’ interests.

He also confirmed that despite the referral to the CIRB, the industrial action at CPKC was continuing.

Political commentators said that the union may seek to challenge the constitutionality of the minister’s referral of the dispute to the CIRB for binding legislation.

There is legal precedent that deems the right to strike and to collective bargaining as a constitutional right.

Bottomline: Despite earlier hopes that binding arbitration would end the dispute and trains would run again soon, freight rail service remains disrupted and it is unclear when it will resume.

CHEMICALS AND RAIL
Canada-based chemical producers rely on rail to ship more than 70% of their products, with some exclusively using rail.

About 80% of Canada’s chemical production goes into export, with about 80% of those exports going to the US, according to CIAC.

Chlorine plants in Canada may have to shut down if reliable rail service does not resume soon, CIAC CEO Bob Masterson said.

(Map by Miguel Rodriguez Fernandez)

Meanwhile, LyondellBasell on Thursday declared force majeure on all rail shipments to Canada and industrial chemical producer Chemtrade Logistics warned about the impact of the rail disruption on its financial results.

The following table by the American Association of Railroads (AAR) shows Canadian freight rail traffic, including chemicals, for the week ended 17 August and the first 33 weeks of 2024:

With additional reporting by Adam Yanelli and Nurluqman Suratman

Thumbnail photo source: CN