By Rosalind Russell – Traffic at Canada’s two largest railways resumed yesterday as a rail work stoppage came to an end following a Saturday decision from the federal labour board.
Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City shut down railways last Thursday, locking out workers and disrupting freight traffic countrywide and commuter lines in the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver areas.
The lockouts affected more than 9,000 railway workers.
The work stoppage came to an end at 12:01 a.m. on Monday based on a decision issued Saturday by the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordering both companies and their workers to resume operations ahead of binding arbitration.
The president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference issued a statement Saturday protesting the CIRB’s decision and vowed to appeal the ruling in court.
That same day, Calgary-based CPKC said it anticipates several weeks for the railway network to recover, and more time after that for supply chains to stabilize.
The stoppage affects freight operations throughout Northern Ontario including the spur line that runs between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie affecting operations at both the steel mill in the Soo and the sawmill in Nairn Centtre.
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