Trudeau Government Orders Striking Rail Workers Back to Work

The arbitrator chosen by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to mediate a contentious rail workers dispute has ordered that employees of the country’s two major railroads return to work.

The Teamsters union, which represents rail workers, stated that it will comply with the Canada Industrial Relations Board order and return its members to work while still pursuing a judicial appeal to the arbitration order.

“The CIRB’s ruling sets a worrisome precedent. It sends a message to corporate Canada that large corporations only need to halt operations for a few hours, causing short-term economic pain, and the federal government will intervene to break a union,” said Paul Boucher, President of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents over 9,000 engineers, conductors, and dispatchers at both railroads.

“The rights of Canadian workers have been significantly diminished today by the Trudeau government,” according to Boucher.

Liberal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon ordered the lockouts to end just over 16 hours after they began, saying the Trudeau government couldn’t face seeing another economic calamity unfold if the railroads stayed closed.

Rail Workers Unhappy

MacKinnon announced the board’s decision in a post on the social media platform X, saying he expected the railroads and personnel to resume operations as soon as possible.

Businesses across Canada and the United States have warned that without train transportation, they will face a crisis since they rely on freight railroads to supply raw materials and completed products. Many businesses would have to reduce production or even close if they did not receive regular supply.

Canadian National trains resumed service Friday morning, but the Teamsters union has threatened to go on strike there beginning Monday morning.

That strike threat is no longer valid thanks to Saturday’s back-to-work orders. Workers have been on strike since the lockout started early Thursday, and the railroad’s trains have been idle.

The railroads estimated that it would take many weeks to fully recover because they began gradually shutting down their networks more than a week ago, leaving shipments stranded on customer loading docks and at ports across the country.

The previous contract, which ended at the end of last year, will continue in effect while the arbitration procedure is ongoing, and the board (Trudeau Government) has directed the unions not to disrupt operations further while that occurs.

Meanwhile, Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada’s New Democrats, claims he is tired of the Liberals after the Trudeau government chose to send the rail workers affecting the two main railways in the nation to binding arbitration.

Singh would have rather settled the work stoppage through negotiations than through a hearing before the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).

Only 17 hours after the work stoppage began, Singh declared on Friday that he was ready to dissolve Parliament rather than accept the Liberals’ arbitration order. “I don’t care if it’s a motion of confidence or not,” a furious Singh told reporters.

Still, it’s difficult to regard Singh seriously. Singh has frequently shown outrage at Liberal activities, but he has also continued to back them despite his supposed fury, often within hours of the Liberals’ actions, ever since he struck a pact with them to support their minority government.

Jagmeet Singh bears the greatest share of the blame for forcing the unpopular Trudeau administration on Canadians, perhaps surpassing even Liberal campaign strategists and Liberal media cheer leading.

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