Canadian Port Workers Ordered Back To Work
Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
Canadian National
OTTAWA –– RT&S reported within the last two weeks that striking workers at the Port of Montreal and the lockout of port workers in British Columbia was underway and impact of the work stoppages were beginning to stir up some economic headwinds.
You can read our first story here and our second story here.
During the past few days, the negotiations between port operators and workers have not borne any fruit, so the Labor Minister of Canada, ordered everyone back to work. “I have directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order that all operators and duties at the ports resume and to assist the parties to settle their collective agreements by imposing final and binding arbitration.”
While CPKC and Canadian National are again moving intermodal trains in and out of the port terminals, the national president of Teamsters Canada, François Laporte, was not happy with the order. “This government needs to practice what it preaches when it comes to workers’ rights. Just like during the lockouts at CN and CPKC, the government has once again caved to corporate interests, destabilizing labour relations in our country. The Labour Minister’s decision to constantly intervene in collective bargaining by forcing unions to binding arbitration, instead of forcing employers to bargain in good faith, effectively nullifies our Charter rights. Unions will fight this to the end.”
He added, “Canada is a strong country, and the idea that we are supposedly one strike or lockout away from economic collapse is a baseless narrative. We are already challenging the government in the courts to put an end to these repeated violations of our Charter rights. Today’s developments only add weight to our case.”
