Alberta Premier calling on feds for back-to-work legislation amid looming CN and CPKC job action

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is sounding the alarm about possible job action at both of Canada’s rail companies.

This comes as Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon rejected a request from Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) for binding arbitration.

MacKinnon says he expects CN Rail and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference to negotiate in good faith, adding that federal mediators remain available to help with the process.

CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPKC) have said they will lockout employees as early as Aug. 22 if a deal on issues, such as scheduling and wages, can’t be reached.

The union, which represents 9,300 conductors, engineers and yard workers, is simultaneously holding labour talks with CPKC.

Smith said in a news conference Thursday that any kind of job action would cripple the economy.

“I can tell you, it would be devastating to have both of our major rail lines, both CPKC and CN, shut down at the same time, shutting down all rail transport in the country for anything longer than a couple of days,” she said.

“You have to imagine that anyone who is producing anything for transport by rail if it starts backing up, they’ve got to stop production. So it’s pretty clear to me that this is not something that can continue on for any length of time.”

Smith says from what she understands, CN has not fully recovered from the B.C. port strike in the summer of 2023. CN said it would take a couple of months to recover from the strike that lasted from July 1 to 13 at the time.

About 7,400 workers at more than 30 B.C. ports initially went on strike for 13 days starting Canada Day. They cited issues including pay and provisions related to maintenance work, contracting out, and automation.

That job action ended with word of a tentative deal, which the union’s leadership then went on to reject without taking it to the membership for a vote. Another bout of strike action resumed, which was then ruled illegal by the Canada Industrial Relations Board, because notice had not been given.

The union says the only way forward is for the rail companies to back down on their demands for concessions.

Smith is calling on the federal government to be ready to reconvene parliament and be prepared to bring in back-to-work legislation.

Both CN Rail and CPKC have begun halting shipments of certain goods including hazardous materials to ensure they don’t become stranded on the tracks in the event of a work stoppage.

With files from Monika Gul and Hana Mae Nassar