MONTREAL — A federal government-appointed arbitrator imposed a new contract April 7 on some 6,000 train conductors, engineers, yardmasters and yard switchmen at Canadian National Railway. They’re members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. Liberal Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon had ordered the binding arbitration in August after declaring their spirited 17-hour strike illegal.
For the first time in almost 60 years, Teamster members at CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City, the two cross-country railways in Canada, had gone out on strike together. Both employers enforced a lockout at the same time, looking for government intervention. Since then federal authorities have ordered an end to a number of other major strikes — by port workers in Montreal, Vancouver, and Quebec City and by postal workers nationwide.
The contract imposed on the 3,000 Canadian Pacific Kansas City Teamsters has yet to be announced.
“CN’s demands were (and remain) completely unacceptable throughout the entire bargaining process. The Company would not relent on what it considered necessary operational changes,” the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said after release of the arbitrator’s decision. “The TCRC could never agree to these concessionary demands.”
“While this is not the preferred outcome for the TCRC, it must be understood that the award does not contain any of the significant concessions sought by the company,” the union said. The three-year contract includes a 3% raise each year and minor improvements to health benefits.
“They call it a ‘new’ contract, but it is status quo with small raises,” Alexander Famili, at Canadian National conductor in Montreal, told the Militant, reflecting what many rail workers think.
CN’s initial demands included longer workdays, forced relocation of lower seniority workers across the country, and smaller crews. Workers at these two rail companies voted by 98% to strike, an overwhelming rejection of the company’s demands.
“The arbitrator’s report explains that workers are fighting for a better work-family balance, but this has to be bargained between the company and the union,” Dustin Saunders, a train engineer from British Columbia who has worked for CN since 2005, told the Militant. “How can we bargain if we don’t have the right to strike?”
The government-imposed contract doesn’t address the two most pressing questions facing rail workers — dangerous working conditions and the right to strike.
Railroad work ‘safety-critical’
“Rail work remains one of the most safety-critical and physically demanding sectors in the country. Our members … face daily risks to ensure the safe and reliable movement of freight and passengers across Canada,” the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said in a statement released for Workers Memorial Day April 28.
Since the lockout, train engineer Luke Lumley, who worked for Ontario Northern in North Bay, was killed on the job. “Every workplace death is preventable,” the union said. “Every injury is a call to action. And every member has the right to return home safely at the end of their shift.”
In May 2023, Transport Canada imposed new “Duty and Rest Period Rules,” claiming they reflect the “latest in fatigue science.” Fatigue is a serious issue on the railroad.
While the new rules did limit some of the most extreme work practices, it still set a maximum continuous work period of 12 hours, a week of 60 hours and a minimum of 12 hours off after you leave work. Bosses at both CN and CPKC have pushed to make these the new standard on the railroad. At Canadian National, conductors and engineers have won the right to end a shift after 10 hours if they’re too tired, nine hours for a yard switcher. Anyone working off the call list can have between 14 and 24 hours of rest after a shift.
The first joint strike by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific workers was in 1950. It drew the first-ever government use of back-to-work legislation in Canadian history. Besides the standard screams that the strike was a threat to the economy from the bosses and their capitalist media allies, the strike was also condemned as “unpatriotic” because it came in the middle of Ottawa’s participation in the U.S.-led war against the Korean people. Since then, both Liberal and Conservative governments have passed anti-strike laws against rail workers five more times.
For the first time, this back-to-work order didn’t go through Parliament. Instead, the minister of labor used section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, which states that “to maintain or secure industrial peace and to promote conditions favourable to the settlement of industrial disputes or differences,” the minister himself may direct the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to take action.
The minister of labor ordered this unelected board to end the largest rail strike in decades and impose binding arbitration. The union took down the picket lines and filed appeals with the Federal Court of Appeal.
“The right to strike is a must, sticking together and having the ability to organize is something we’ve got to take example of from other strikes,” said Juan Sebastian Santamaria, a CN conductor in Montreal.
Philippe Tessier is a conductor at Canadian National Railway in Montreal and member of the Teamsters union.