Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) is preparing to restart railway operations in Canada after the Canadian Minister of Labour announced plans to exercise his authority under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to impose final binding arbitration and for railway operations to resume.
“The Canadian government has recognized the immense consequences of a railway work stoppage for the Canadian economy, North American supply chains and all Canadians,” says Keith Creel, CPKC president and CEO. “The government has acted to protect Canada’s national interest. We regret that the government had to intervene because we fundamentally believe in and respect collective bargaining; however, given the stakes for all involved, this situation required action.
“CPKC looks forward to welcoming all of our employees back to work to restore our railway to full strength and get back to serving our customers and moving Canada’s trade and commerce throughout North America,” Creel adds.
Key takeaways:
- CPKC will follow the order of the CIRB once it executes the Minister’s direction. Teams are already preparing for the safe and orderly resumption of rail network.
- The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) – Train & Engine represents CPKC’s roughly 3,200 locomotive engineers, conductors and train and yard workers, and the TCRC – Rail Canadian Traffic Controllers represents approximately 80 rail traffic controllers, all in Canada.
- This follows yesterday’s news, where CPKC and Canadian National (CN) shut down operations, locking out 9,000 members of the Teamsters union who operate the trains.
