(FARGO, ND) — After an unprecedented lockout of union workers and a shutdown of freight rail service in Canada on Thursday, the Canadian government is set to step in and effectively end the lockout via arbitration.
According to a statement on X, Canadian Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon announced that he is directing the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to begin assisting Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City in settling their negotiations by “imposing final binding arbitration.” You can view his full statement from X below:
The move to arbitration follows weeks of uncertainty leading up to Thursday’s rail shutdown and lockout of union workers for CN and CPKC. It marked the first time that both national railways in Canada had shut down at the same time and it has created a fair amount of uncertainty for both Canadian and U.S. agriculture, among other things.
According to Mike Steenhoek, Executive Director for the Soy Transportation Coalition, he says via an email to American Ag Network that “I have read opinions from knowledgeable officials in Canada regarding whether the Canadian Ministry of Labor and the Canadian Industrial Relations Board truly possess the authority to impose arbitration. We’ll see how this develops in the days to come. We are hopeful the actions by Minister MacKinnon will result in a resumption of rail service in the near future.”
Media reports indicate that CN workers will return to work on Friday while CPKC is waiting for an official order from the CIRB to resume operations. A report from Rueters shared that CN spokesperson Jonathan Abecassis told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp it could take the company a week or more to catch up on shipments.
Steenhoek added that “Having a rail supply chain that seamlessly crosses between the U.S. and Canada is essential for the economies of both countries. For the U.S. soybean industry, Canada is our 4th largest export market for soybean meal at $614 million in 2023 and the largest export market for soybean oil at $106 million (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture).”
This is a developing story, stay tuned for more updates.
View more coverage as well from our partners at DTN/Progressive Farmer online here: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2024/08/23/union-splits-cn-cpkc-work-stoppage