Federal Labour Board Orders Freight Trains Back to Work
#World News
Federal Labour Board Orders Freight Trains Back to Work
Loveworld / 25 mins
August 28, 2024
1 min read
The federal labour board has mandated that freight trains must resume operations by Monday morning after a work stoppage that began early Thursday. The Teamsters Union, representing workers at CPKC and CN Rail, has announced plans to comply with the order but intends to appeal the decision in federal court.
Christopher Monette, Director of Public Affairs at Teamsters Canada, criticized the ruling, claiming it undermines the bargaining power of unions and sets a troubling precedent. He argued that the ruling sends a message to corporations that they can avoid negotiating with unions by briefly shutting down operations, knowing that the federal government may intervene to end job actions.
Monette warned that this ruling could have widespread implications, affecting not just railroad workers but also port workers, airline staff, and others across the supply chain.
The economic impact of the shutdown is already significant, with Moody’s estimating a daily cost of $341 million to the Canadian economy. Sectors like agriculture, forestry, and manufacturing have been particularly hard-hit. The full extent of the disruption is still emerging, but the federal intervention has sparked a broader discussion about the balance between labor negotiations and government intervention.
