Rail workers’ union launches legal challenge against binding arbitration order
The union representing thousands of railway workers has appealed the measures that ended the Closure of the railway network Last week, a work stoppage disrupted freight and commuter traffic across the country.
In documents filed with the Federal Court of Appeal, the Teamsters union challenged the guidelines regarding binding arbitration rendered before a labor commission by federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon last week, less than a day after 9,300 workers at Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway were locked out in Kansas City.
In response to MacKinnon’s instructions, the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the country’s two main railways to resume operations and employees to return to their jobs until binding arbitration can produce new contracts.
In addition to the government’s directive, the union is also challenging the court’s decisions.
Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, believes these actions set a “dangerous precedent” that threatens workers’ constitutional right to collective bargaining.
“Without this, unions lose their bargaining power to obtain better wages and safer working conditions for all Canadians,” Boucher said in a press release.
The railroads, along with some industry groups, said the minister’s decision ended months of unnecessary uncertainty and eased supply chain turbulence after the Teamsters rejected arbitration demands.
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CN said arbitration is a neutral process “independent of the outcome” and aimed at breaking an impasse.
“CN would have preferred a negotiated settlement,” CN spokeswoman Ashley Michnowski said in an email.
“However, after nine months of trying to reach a settlement, it was clear that the Teamsters were not looking for resolution and were happy to continue to apply pressure by inflicting damage on the Canadian economy,” CN spokeswoman Ashley Michnowski said in an email.
MacKinnon issued the back-to-work order less than 17 hours after the CPKC lockout and strike went into effect, but not CN. He said negotiations were at an impasse and Canadian businesses, job security and trade relations were at stake.
Industry groups have been sounding the alarm for weeks about the economic consequences of a prolonged shutdown. To ensure no freight was stranded, CN and CPKC reduced operations in stages, starting nearly three weeks ago.
Last week, the movement of goods ranging from auto parts to crude oil, consumer goods, grain and potash came to a complete halt, temporarily disrupting supply chains.
More than 30,000 commuters in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver were also unable to board passenger trains running on CPKC-owned tracks.
The labor board’s August 24 decision requires the railroads to continue operating and workers to remain on the job until the arbitration is completed.
The union filed four separate appeals in a Toronto court Thursday afternoon, seeking a court order “setting aside” the minister’s directions and labour court decisions regarding CN and CPKC.
The applications seek to invalidate these decisions as well as the minister’s orders to the council, arguing that the latter were “ultra vires” – beyond the powers of its jurisdiction.
The court filing also says the board’s directives and decisions violated the union’s freedom of association, guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
After a few acrimonious weeks, the union and railroad officials are expected to meet next month for the first time since the work stoppage to discuss a timetable for binding arbitration.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
