The Prince George railway bridge spans the Fraser River. Photo:: APTN File
Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon is stepping in to get trains moving again after an unprecedented lockout by the country’s two largest rail companies.
He will use his powers under Section 107 of the Labour Code to ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose final, binding arbitration.
He’s also asked the board to order the railways to resume operations under the terms of the current collective agreements until new deals are in place.
MacKinnon says the collective bargaining process is ultimately up to the companies and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union, but the lockout is affecting all Canadians.
After months of increasingly bitter negotiations, shipments at Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. ground to a halt last night as talks broke off.
Both railways have called for binding arbitration, but the union rejected those calls.
