The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference says it has taken down picket lines at Canadian National Railway Co. and its workers will begin returning to work on Aug. 23.

However, the union said the work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Kansas City remains ongoing pending an order from the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Following months of increasingly fraught contract talks, Canada’s two biggest railways both locked out workers after failing to reach deals with the union by a Aug. 22 deadline.

The unprecedented work stoppage prompted federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to refer the dispute to the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose binding arbitration.

The union and CPKC officials met with the board on Aug. 22 and will meet again Aug. 23.

CPKC said it was prepared to discuss the resumption of service at the meeting with the CIRB, but the union refused and wants to make submissions to challenge the constitutionality of MacKinnon’s direction.

The minister had faced pressure from business groups, who warned of the economic consequences of the work stoppage and urged Ottawa to resolve the dispute.

Negotiations

At a Aug. 22 news conference, MacKinnon maintained the government is “committed totally to collective bargaining,” but said the impacts of the work stoppage are being felt by all Canadians.

The minister said the government gave the negotiations “every possible opportunity to succeed.”

Each side had accused the other of failing to negotiate seriously. The union had said it did not want binding arbitration because the issues were too critical to be left to a third party.

The Teamsters has said both companies are pushing to weaken protections around rest periods and scheduling. It adds that CN is also seeking a scheme that would see some employees move to far-flung locations for several months at a time to fill labor gaps.

Supply chain disruption

The work stoppage affected not only supply chains across the country, but also tens of thousands of commuters in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver whose lines run on CPKC-owned tracks.

The agency responsible for GO Transit in Ontario said service will remain down Aug. 23 on the Milton line and at the Hamilton GO station, while B.C. regional transport provider TransLink said service for the West Coast Express will also remain down. Three of the Exo network’s train lines in the Montreal area will also stay down.

Via Rail said trains on its 480-kilometre Sudbury-White River line, which runs three times a week in northern Ontario, are cancelled until the work stoppage is resolved.