On August 22, Canadian rail workers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) spent a brief moment on the picket lines before the Canadian Liberal government intervened to end the work stoppages and force binding arbitration.
After months of intransigence at the bargaining table, the two corporations that make up Canada’s rail duopoly — the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd (CPKC) — locked out their workers, counting on government intervention to resolve the dispute in their favor.
It was a dark day for Teamsters rail members and for Canadian workers more broadly. The government had been delaying and frustrating these workers’ right to strike throughout the bargaining process, and when push came to shove, it didn’t hesitate to do the bidding of the rail giants.
This sets a dangerous precedent, in more ways than one.
The safety concerns raised by railworkers and their union during negotiations may not get the hearing they deserve in arbitration. Beyond the rails, employers will get the message: if your industry is important enough, the government will ensure you don’t have to take your workers’ strike threats seriously.
Over the past two years, railworkers across North America have been sounding the alarm about the connections between their working conditions and public safety. As work has become more intense, workers and communities in the path of rail lines have experienced deteriorating safety and increased risks from derailments.
In 2022, the United States narrowly avoided a…
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Auteur: Adam D. K. King
