The nation’s two major rail companies and unions are still negotiating over “significant issues,” according to Canada’s labor minister, who stated late on Wednesday that a nationwide rail shutdown is all but guaranteed.
One day after meeting with representatives of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. in Montreal, where he urged all sides to come to an agreement, Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon made an appearance on Global News in Calgary.
According to MacKinnon, “I think it’s fair to say there are significant issues that remain to be resolved.” “However, the parties are present and engaged in the work, and it is evident that we are devoting our full attention to ensuring that they have all the resources necessary to make the concessions necessary to reach an agreement.”
As a strike or lockout date approaching for about 9,000 railway workers, freight trains across Canada are predicted to come to a complete stop as early as 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.
In an attempt to resolve the impasse over scheduling conflicts and worker safety concerns, mediators have been brought in after the union and train companies exchanged accusations of refusing to negotiate on specific issues.
Supply chains throughout the continent would be affected by a stoppage, as allied rail workers in the United States vowed on Wednesday to support the Canadian Teamsters members.
According to MacKinnon, he went to Montreal and Calgary on behalf of “those who don’t have a voice at that table,” which includes common consumers as well as workers and business owners whose goods won’t be shipped.
“There would be significant impact on everyday Canadians and far-reaching economic consequences,” he stated. “It is my duty to remind these parties that many people are depending on them to reach a deal, and that their obligations extend far beyond their personal interests at this table.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned of the damaging effects a shutdown would have on the economy and urged all parties to come to an agreement. Freeland declared that any party’s risk of a crisis she referred to as a “self-inflicted wound” was “unacceptable.”
He remarked, “We know that the best and most enduring business deals are made at the negotiating table, for both employers and employees.”
Deadlines have a way of focusing the mind sometimes. There are moments when you gain momentum and things go quickly to resolution. That is what we are hoping for.
Although he acknowledged that it’s “not something that can be recalled on a dime,” MacKinnon would not say whether he or the administration would be willing to recall Parliament before it is scheduled to return on September 16 in order to end a shutdown.
Since the CPKC network spans the United States and links Canada and Mexico, a disruption would also impact the supply chains throughout North America as a whole.
One of the biggest U.S. rail unions connected to the Teamsters, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, told Global News that its 51,000 members have been instructed not to cross any actual picket lines in relation to the labor dispute.
The representative stated in the background to share internal communications that this would imply that American rail workers would not be replacing Canadian workers who walk off the job, nor would they be able to refuse to operate trains once they cross the Canadian border from the United States.
The representative emphasized that U.S. federal labor laws would still require U.S. union members to take over for Canadian workers who walked off the job while operating trains in the U.S.
“We fully support our TCRC brothers and sisters in their fight against CPKC and CN,” BLET national president Edward Hall stated in a statement on Wednesday.
“Corporate greed is out of control in Canada, just as it is in America.”
Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation for the United States, stated on social media on Monday that his department was closely observing the labor negotiations in Canada as well as any possible effects on cross-border shipments.
MacKinnon reported that Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez had communicated with Buttigieg, and that he “exchanged voicemails” with his counterpart in the United States, acting Labour Secretary Julie Su, on Wednesday.
“I am aware that they are closely monitoring this,” he remarked, mentioning the possible ramifications throughout North America. “The Canadian government will not remain apathetic toward that.”
In an interview with Global News on Wednesday, Stephen Laskowski, the president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, also mentioned the lack of capital and labor in the trucking sector.
Because of a strike, “no trucking company is going to go out and add extra capital or extra labor,” he declared.
Trucking can only be of “limited” assistance, he continued.
About 300 trucks are worth a single train. There is a huge demand for additional capacity. Additionally, rail is truly the only option for big, bulky, and heavy machinery.
