by Manal Barakat, SeaNewsEditor

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) decided last week that a potential work stoppage by rail workers would not risk the safety or health of the Canadian public, clearing the way for rail workers to go on strike.

Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said in a statement that the earliest a strike or lockout could occur is 22 August at 00:01 local time.

However, the union must issue a strike notice at least 72 hours before a work stoppage. There was no news about a notice from the union at the time of publishing this article.

In the meantime, the union assured the public that it would continue pushing for a negotiated settlement with the Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railroads.

Similarly, both railroaders issued statements in response to the CIRB decision.

The CN fears that “a negotiated deal is no longer possible” and requested the intervention of the Minister of Labour.

“Unless there is immediate and meaningful progress at the negotiating table or binding arbitration, CN will have no choice but to begin a phased and progressive shutdown of its network, starting with embargoes of hazardous goods, which would culminate in a lockout at 00:01 Eastern Time on August 22nd,” said CN in a statement.

Meanwhile, the CPKC said it would notify the unions of its plan “to lock out employees […] if union leadership and the company are unable to come to a negotiated settlement or agree to binding interest arbitration.”

While the railroad highlighted its commitment to avoid a work stoppage, it mentioned that a lockout is expected at 00:01 local time on 22 August.

Kuehne+Nagel is monitoring the situation closely and will update its customers on new developments as they become available.