MONTREAL — The five-day old strike by 2,800 CN Rail workers will likely continue through to next week as the Canada Industrial Relations Board said today it would not rule if the strike is illegal until at least Feb. 19.

The labor board listened to arguments by CN that the strike is not legal because Canadian union leaders ordered workers to hit the bricks without the authorization of United Transportation Union International in the U.S. — the certified bargaining agent for the CN rail conductors and yard workers.

The UTU’s Canadian representatives admitted they have been at odds with their U.S. parent over the issue. The union’s chief negotiator Rex Beatty says the Canadian locals are within the law to walk out even without head office’s approval.

CN and union leaders will have to wait to find out
if rail employees will be ordered back to work

However, Beatty told media this week that he will respect any CIRB decision and will issue a back-to-work order if the board decides the strike is out of bounds.

Canadian National has been using management in place of the striking workers to keep freight trains moving and says thus far service levels are near “normal.”

The union insists, though, that the strike has had a bigger impact on operations than the railroad admits.

There were reports this week that the Canadian Wheat Board, for one, is worried that a prolonged strike could further delay grain shipments that have been held up due to severe weather on the Prairies.

According to the Wheat Board, six vessels in Vancouver are waiting on 150,000 tons of grain and four ships in Prince Rupert are holding for 200,000 tons.

Negotiations between CN and the UTU broke off last weekend. The railway says UTU’s wage demands of 4.5 percent, 4.5 percent, and 4 percent over three years are unrealistic and are 40 percent higher than the increases the company negotiated in recent collective agreements.

Excluded from strike action are commuter rail operations on CN lines as well as CN’s Northern Quebec Internal Short Line, Algoma Central Railway in northern Ontario, Mackenzie Northern Railway in northern Alberta, and CN’s U.S. rail lines.

— with files from Reuters