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| Down at track level London, ON October 2023 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Hours after thousands of Canadian railway workers hit the picket lines after contract negotiations broke down and their employers locked them out, the federal labour minister announced he was forcing the warring parties into binding arbitration.
Steven MacKinnon says the move could see cargo once again riding the rails “within days”. But let’s not fool ourselves: if this had been more about protecting the Canadian economy instead of playing politics, the feds wouldn’t have stood idly by while the picket signs were still being assembled in union halls.
The damage, unfortunately, has already been done. The two railways at the centre of this mess, CN and CPKC, carry over $1 billion in goods every day. And as negotiations headed for the cliff face, shippers on both sides of the border had already begun pre-emptively drawing down their shipments.
It’ll take weeks for the supply chain to recover, and for manufacturers, retailers, and others across the economy to return to a normal cadence. The damage, sadly, is already done.
And that assumes the unions stand down: as of tonight, they say the picket lines will remain active.
It’s a sobering reminder that everyone loses in cases like this. And that corporate greed sucks - particularly when those who pay the heaviest price for it are far removed from the corner office, and are just trying to lead their lives.
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Related:
Off the rails, August 2024
Forged in history, April 2014
Ribbons of steel, January 2024
Standing on rails on a blistering hot day, April 2023
Follow the tracks home, June 2021
Wherever the tracks may lead, July 2020
No humping, March 2020
Tracks melting in the sun, June 2019
Headed home by train, January 2019
The silver bullet pulls out, July 2018
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