Supply Chain & Transport

On Saturday August 24, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered CN and CPKC workers back to work and imposes binding arbitration. 

Following yesterday’s announcement by the Minister of Labour indicating that he was invoking section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, the Canadian National Railway (CN) announced that it was ending their lockout effective 6:00 pm (EDT) on August 22.

On Thursday afternoon, the Minister of Labour invoked Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code which allows the government to refer a labour dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to find a solution.

With the imminent simultaneous disruption of Canada’s two national rail carriers, CN and CPKC, there will be significant impacts on the feed industry and the livestock sector.

Take action and join the campaign initiated by the agriculture sector to push the government to prevent this rail stoppage. It takes less than 30 seconds to express your support.

Both the Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway (CPKC) have issued the mandatory 72-hour lockout notice, meaning the national railways will halt service at 00:01 am on August 22. Understanding that a work stoppage on Canada’s Class 1 railways would have serious impacts on the feed industry and the livestock sector, ANAC has been active since the spring in requesting Government take appropriate actions to prevent a rail disruption.

Following the decision rendered by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) that rail is not an essential service, both Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway (CPKC) have expressed an intent to lockout workers at 00:01 am on August 22 if an agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) is not reached.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has determined that, because rail is not an essential service under the Canada Labour Code, CN Rail and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) do not need to maintain service in the event of a strike or lockout. 

Help ANAC tell the story of how anticipated and actual rail stoppages affect the feed industry. ANAC is requesting members to complete our Survey on Cost of a Rail Strike to the Feed Industry to gather data on the additional activities required and costs incurred by members in preparing for and during a rail stoppage.

According to CN’s recent press release, a strike or lockout is unlikely to take place before mid to late July as the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) still needs to render a decision on the designation of “essential” services in the event of a work stoppage. The CIRB has not indicated how long they will take to make a decision, and neither a strike nor a lockout can happen until then.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) workers were set to strike on June 7 but have extended the deadline for job action to June 12, if an agreement is not reached.