Rail Giants Score Another Win Against Workers
After months of tense negotiations, Canadian rail companies enlisted the government to block a strike, shutting down railworkers’ fight for safer conditions and better hours. The federal intervention sets a troubling precedent for future union talks.
Locked out railway workers demonstrate on August 22, 2024, in Brampton, Canada. (Ian Willms / Getty Images)
On August 22, Canadian rail workers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) spent a brief moment on the picket lines before the Canadian Liberal government intervened to end the work stoppages and force binding arbitration.
After months of intransigence at the bargaining table, the two corporations that make up Canada’s rail duopoly — the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd (CPKC) — locked out their workers, counting on government intervention to resolve the dispute in their favor.
It was a dark day for Teamsters rail members and for Canadian workers more broadly. The government had been delaying and frustrating these workers’ right to strike throughout the bargaining process, and when push came to shove, it didn’t hesitate to do the bidding of the rail giants.
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