Trains running on one of Canada’s largest freight railways

TORONTO (AP) — A union threatened a strike Friday at one of Canada’s two major freight rail companies, just hours after the company’s trains were restarted following a possible accident. Devastating stop. Train traffic is expected to continue until at least Monday morning.

Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. shut their doors to their workers on Thursday when negotiations over a new labor contract broke down. That led to a near-total shutdown of the nation’s freight railroads for more than a day, until Canadian National resumed service. Trains operated by CPKC remained idled, and its workers, who had already been on strike since Thursday, remained on the picket line Friday.

The government forced the companies and the union, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, to go to arbitration — an order the union is challenging. The union filed a 72-hour strike notice against CN on Friday morning, shortly after announcing its plans to challenge the arbitration order, union spokesman Marc-André Gauthier said.

It is not yet clear whether the latest action will lead to CN trains being grounded again when the strike notice expires at 10 a.m. Monday. The entire matter could be decided before then by the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, which is overseeing the arbitration. In that case, CN employees could continue to work and CPKC workers could return to work while the union continues to challenge the arbitration order in court. All parties met with the CIRB starting Friday morning and continuing into the afternoon.

“We do not believe that any of the matters we have discussed over the past few days cannot be resolved, and we remain available for discussion in order to resolve this matter without further disruption to work,” the union said in its letter to the National Railways management.

Canadian National Railway, which has about 6,500 workers involved in the dispute, said the impact of the strike notice would depend on the timing of the Canadian Railway Appeal Review Board’s decision. “It is in Canada’s national interest for the Canadian Railway Appeal Review Board to rule quickly, before further damage is done,” the railway said in a written statement. Canadian National Railway has about 3,000 engineers, conductors and supervisors.

The union’s latest actions “will prolong the damage to our economy and jeopardize the well-being and livelihoods of Canadians, including union and non-union workers in many industries,” said Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Labour Minister Stephen McKinnon announced the decision to force the parties into binding arbitration on Thursday afternoon, more than 16 hours after the rail strike, saying the economic risks were too great for them to continue. The government had rejected the arbitration order two weeks ago. McKinnon said he was hopeful that negotiations between companies and unions on a new contract would succeed. A spokesman for McKinnon declined to comment on the strike notice on Friday.

“This is not about disobeying the minister’s order. This is about exercising our right. And we will exercise our right within the law,” Francois Laporte, president of the Canadian Truck Drivers Association, said Friday in announcing the strike.

Canadian National Railway spokesman Jonathan Abecassis said the company’s trains began running at 7 a.m. across Canada. The development initially appeared to at least partially end a work stoppage that had threatened create chaos The economies of Canada and the United States depend on railways for all industries to deliver raw materials and finished products.

“While the national railroad is focused on its recovery plan and supporting the economy, the truckers are focused on returning to the picket line and holding the North American economy hostage to their demands,” Abecassis said following the union’s strike notice.

The reopening of a rail line is a relief to businesses. In most previous rail disputes, only one Canadian rail line has been shut down, and the economy has been able to withstand the disruption.

Negotiations that began last year have stalled over issues related to how workers are scheduled and contract rules designed to prevent fatigue. The railroads have proposed moving away from the current system, which pays workers based on the number of miles they travel, to a system based on hours worked. The railroads said the shift would make it easier to provide predictable schedules. But the union has resisted, fearing the proposed changes would erode hard-won protections against fatigue and jeopardize safety.

similar Quality of life concerns Demanding schedules and a lack of paid sick leave have pushed U.S. railroads to On the brink of strike Two years ago, Congress and President Joe Biden stepped in and forced workers to accept a deal.

In Canada, another issue facing the national railway company is the company’s intention to expand a system that allows it to temporarily transfer workers to other parts of its network when it experiences a staffing shortage in a particular area.

When it comes to wages, the rail companies said they offered increases in line with other recent deals in the industry for already well-paying jobs. Canadian National said its engineers earn about $150,000 and its drivers about $121,000 for working 160 days a year, though some of their free time is spent stuck in hotels on the route between train journeys getting much-needed rest. CPKC said its pay is similar.

Almost all of Canada’s rail freight — worth more than C$1 billion ($730 million) a day and amounting to more than 375 million tonnes of freight last year — was halted Thursday, along with rail freight crossing the U.S. border. A number of small, short-haul freight rail lines that handle domestic deliveries continued to operate but were unable to deliver to any of the major rail companies while they were out of service.

About 30,000 passengers in Canada were also affected because their trains used CPKC lines. CPKC and CN trains continued to operate in the United States and Mexico during the shutdown.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, billions of dollars worth of goods are transported between Canada and the United States by rail each month.

“There are a lot of goods and services that are shipped across the border,” Sean O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said at a rally in Calgary, Alberta, on Friday. “If this company chooses to continue its bad behavior, it will have an impact… They have a lot of decisions to make. And they have to make the most important decision: Reward these workers for their work, and not try to compromise on safety just because they need to feed their bottom line.”

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The story has been edited to correct the fact that the government refused to issue the arbitration order two weeks ago, not a week ago.

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Funk sent this report from Omaha, Nebraska.