Rail network likely to close as labour minister says ‘significant issues’ remain – National
Canada’s labour minister said Wednesday night that “significant problems” remain in negotiations between the country’s two main railway companies and unions, a move that National closure of the rail network almost certain.
Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon spoke to Global News in Calgary following a meeting with representatives from Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, a day after meeting with Canadian National and its union local in Montreal to urge all parties to reach an agreement.
“I think it’s fair to say there are still significant issues to be resolved,” MacKinnon said. “But the parties are there and they’re working, and we’re obviously putting every effort into making sure they have everything they need to make the compromises that are necessary to get a deal done.”
Freight trains across Canada are expected to grind to a halt as early as 12:01 a.m. Thursday as about 9,000 railway workers inch closer to a strike or lockout date.
The rail companies and the union have accused each other of refusing to engage on some sticking points, and mediators have been called in to try to break the impasse over scheduling issues and worker safety concerns.
A shutdown would disrupt supply chains not only in Canada but across the continent, with U.S.-allied railroad workers pledging their support for Canadian Teamsters members on Wednesday.
MacKinnon said he travelled to Montreal and Calgary to represent “those who don’t have a voice at this table,” including business owners and workers whose goods won’t be shipped and “the commuters, the farmers, the ranchers,” as well as average consumers.
“The economic consequences would be significant and the impact on ordinary Canadians would be significant,” he said. “My job is to remind these parties that their responsibilities go far beyond their own interests at this table and that a lot of people are counting on them to get a deal done.”
Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland urged Both sides have tried to reach an agreement, warning of the economic consequences of a market shutdown. Freeland said it was “unacceptable” for either side to risk a crisis she called a “self-inflicted wound.”
Yet the federal government has so far resisted calls, including from some premiers, to intervene, on which MacKinnon has remained firm.
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“We know that the most sustainable and beneficial trade agreements for both employers and employees are reached at the negotiating table,” he said.
“Sometimes deadlines tend to focus attention… Sometimes you get a little momentum and you can solve problems quickly. That’s what we hope.”
MacKinnon would not say whether he or the government would be willing to recall Parliament before its scheduled resumption on Sept. 16 to resolve a shutdown issue, but noted it is “not something that can be recalled in the blink of an eye.”
The CPKC network connects Canada to Mexico via the United States, meaning a shutdown would also affect North American supply chains as a whole.
A representative from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the largest U.S. rail unions affiliated with the Teamsters, told Global News that its 51,000 members have been ordered not to cross any physical picket lines related to the labour dispute.
That would mean U.S. railroaders could refuse to operate trains once they reach the Canadian border from the United States, and would not replace Canadian workers who walk off the job, the official said at a news conference to share internal communications.
U.S. union members would still be required to pick up the slack for Canadian workers who walked off the job while operating trains in the United States, the official said, citing U.S. federal labor laws.
“Our brothers and sisters at the TCRC have our 100% support in their fight against the CPKC and CN,” BLET National President Edward Hall said in a statement Wednesday.
“Just as corporate greed is out of control in the United States, so it is in Canada.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on social media Monday that his department is closely monitoring labor negotiations in Canada, as well as any potential impact on cross-border shipping.
MacKinnon said he “exchanged voicemails” Wednesday with his U.S. counterpart, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, and that Transportation Minister Pablo Rodriguez spoke with Buttigieg.
“I know they’re monitoring the situation very closely,” he said, noting the potential repercussions across North America. “It’s not something that the Government of Canada is going to be indifferent to.”
The U.S. union representative also dismissed suggestions that the trucking industry could fill supply chain gaps left by the rail shutdown, calling the idea “absurd” given the current labor shortage among truck drivers.
Stephen Laskowski, president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, also highlighted labour and capital shortages within the trucking industry in an interview with Global News on Wednesday.
“No transportation company is going to go out and get extra capital or extra labor because of a strike,” he said.
He added that trucking can only help in a “limited” way.
“A train is worth about 300 trucks. There’s so much extra capacity that’s needed. And for bulk items, bulk items, big machinery, there’s really no other way than rail.”
— with files from Uday Rana
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
