The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of American, Inc. (NCBFAA) posted on August 26th in an article below titled “Canada Industrial Relations Board Puts Brakes on Rail Strikes—For Now”:
The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) on Saturday, Aug. 24, ruled to allow Canadian Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon to end job action in Canada’s rail sector and impose binding arbitration.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) union, which had threatened to strike CN at 10 a.m. ET today, said it will “lawfully comply” with the CIRB decision, but added it will appeal the ruling to federal court.
The NCBFAA Transportation Committee wants to remind our members that the Canadian rail strike threat remains in place until the contracts between Canada’s two Class 1 railroads and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) are reached.
The freight rail networks of CN and CPKC ceased operating at 00:01 a.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 22, with the railroads and TCRC still gridlocked in their negotiations to reach a new labor contract. The TCRC represents about 10,000 workers at CN and CPKC. Canada’s Labor Minister MacKinnon that afternoon directed CIRB to assist the railroads and TCRC union parties in settling outstanding terms of their collective agreement by imposing final binding arbitration. This action effectively ended the nearly daylong lockout and restarted the rail services of CN and CPKC.
The NCBFAA Transportation Committee, as well as our counterparts at the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association (CIFFA), will continue to monitor the possible resumption of work stoppages at the Canadian railroads if new contracts are not reached.
