Sask. rail workers' pickets may be short-lived as feds send dispute to binding arbitration

Hundreds of rail workers picketed in several Saskatchewan cities on Thursday, just hours before the federal government announced it will impose binding arbitration to address an unprecedented lockout of thousands of workers by the country's two largest rail corporations.

Freight traffic on the rail networks came to a halt just after midnight Thursday, after both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City locked out 9,300 engineers, conductors and yard workers after the parties failed to agree on a new contract before a midnight deadline, following months of increasingly tense and bitter labour negotiations.

Saskatchewan rail workers started picketing Thursday morning in several cities, including Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon and Melville.

But in light of the binding arbitration, the work stoppage might be short-lived. 

Federal Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon announced Thursday afternoon that he's sent the dispute to binding arbitration and has ordered operations on both railways to resume as quickly as possible, under the terms of the current collective agreements until new deals are in place.

MacKinnon said the collective bargaining process is ultimately up to the companies and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union, which represents 6,000 CN workers and 3,300 CPKC workers, but the lockout is affecting all Canadians.

Both railways had called for binding arbitration, but the union rejected those calls.

Teamsters and the rail lines have accused the other of failing to negotiate seriously.

The companies haul a combined $1 billion in goods each day, according to the Railway Association of Canada. Many shipments were pre-emptively stopped before the lockout to avoid stranding cargo.

Short lockout 'a bit of a blip': U of Sask. expert

James Nolan, an expert in transportation economics at the college of agriculture and bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan, said he didn't expect the impasse to get to this point, and said he's not sure why government didn't step in earlier.

"I guess the big question would be why wasn't this done five days ago," he said in an interview after the labour minister's Thursday announcement. 

"It was pretty clear in this case from the get go that the sides were relatively far apart."

WATCH |  Labour minister says federal government is sending rail dispute to binding arbitration:

Labour minister says federal government is sending rail dispute to binding arbitration

6 months ago

Duration 2:15

Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon says he has directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board ‘to extend the term of the current collective agreements until new agreements have been signed and for operations on both railways to resume forthwith.’

Asked Thursday when he thinks trains will start rolling, the federal labour minister said "within days."

Nolan said he expects the trains will start running within 48 hours, and that slowdown shouldn't significantly affect Saskatchewan shippers. 

"Three days is a bit of a blip. If you're to talk to an average shipper in the U.S., especially of grain and chemicals, a three-day delay is nothing, so it's not really going to affect things," he said.

Nolan said economists feared the effects of a lockout lasting weeks, but said in light of Thursday's announcement, most people won't notice a major disruption.

"There'll be a couple of things to deal with, but nothing major. This is almost like a bad rainstorm or something for a particular urban area."

In a Thursday afternoon post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the federal government took "appropriate action" by imposing binding arbitration.

In a Wednesday post, Moe said he had met with MacKinnon to express his concerns around a work stoppage, and said Saskatchewan would be "in full support" of the federal government using any tools necessary, including binding arbitration.

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said in a media release sent Thursday, prior to the labour minister's announcement, that she was hearing concerns from numerous industries in the province.

"We're an export-based province in the middle of harvest. I've heard overwhelmingly the concerns of our producers, and people across Canada need to understand the impact this stoppage is having on Saskatchewan," the Opposition leader said.

SaskPower said in an emailed statement on Thursday that coal transport rail is operated by the Westmoreland coal company, so its thermal plants would not be affected by the work stoppage.