A lockout by Canada’s two main railway companies of its workers is underway, effectively putting a halt to freight train traffic in the country.
Negotiations failed to prevent a work stoppage Wednesday night, with the union and railways stuck on multiple sticking points keeping the two sides from a deal.
Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) formally locked out their employees on Thursday morning after the union said workers at CN were prepared to strike. CN in a statement the lockout came after the union representing its employees did not respond to “another offer.”
“Without an agreement or binding arbitration, CN had no choice but to finalize a safe and orderly shutdown and proceed with a lockout,” CN said in the statement.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents more than 10,000 workers at the two railways, and CN and CPKC have each claimed the other side has refused to engage on sticking points, with mediators having been brought in to try and break that impasse.
The biggest provisions that have caused issues are around relocation, rest periods and scheduling.
Teamsters say CPKC wants to “gut the collective agreement of all safety-critical fatigue provisions.” CN has proposed what the union calls a “forced relocation scheme” which would see some workers move to various locations for several months at a time to fill labour gaps.
“Throughout this process, CN and CPKC have shown themselves willing to compromise rail safety and tear families apart to earn an extra buck,” said Paul Boucher, TCRC president, in a statement.
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Teamsters said it has put forward multiple offers, but none were “seriously considered.”
CN and CPKC have each put forward differing offers and said they comply with safety rules, something the union has not denied.
In terms of rest periods, CN is proposing employees work a scheduled 40-hour work week that would see at least 10 or 12 hours of rest between shifts — depending if at home or away — and two or three consecutive days off each week.
A comparable offer was tabled by CPKC before being withdrawn “conditionally” on Friday, but both companies’ offers would mark a change from the mileage-based pay system, which has been in place for decades.
The union has taken issue with this, saying crews will be forced to stay awake longer, which could increase the risk of accidents.
In May 2023, rules around minimum rest periods between shifts were set federally at 12 hours at home and 10 when away, with maximum shift lengths for freight workers capped at 12 hours.
CN has said it has also extended an offer to align more with the framework of the current contract and includes pay bumps.
CPKC, meanwhile, said the sticking points for its proposal revolve around wages as well as what’s called “held away” pay, which kicks in after a certain number of hours off-shift in a spot that isn’t a worker’s home terminal.
The operator wants to push back the start time on that pay, an adjustment made in response to the longer rest-period times mandated by tighter federal regulations.
In both their statements following the lockout on Thursday, CN and CPKC reiterated their calls for the union to come to binding arbitration, something TCRC has turned down.
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon in the past has refused to order arbitration due to the parties still being too far apart.
The federal government has also not said whether it will consider legislating the parties back to work. Were the Liberal government to do so, it would need the support of the Bloc Quebecois or Conservatives as the NDP said in a statement Thursday that it would not support back-to-work legislation or “any interference in the bargaining process.”
Asked Wednesday if arbitration was being reconsidered, MacKinnon told Global News that “significant issues” remained and the government would prefer a deal is reached through negotiations.
“We know that the most enduring, best business deals, for both employers and employees, are made at the negotiating table,” he said.
— with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton and Saba Aziz, and The Canadian Press
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