Do not let the flow of goods on Canadian train tracks come to a halt.
That’s the message multiple groups are sending to the Canadian government as unionized employees at CN and CPKC are prepared to strike or get locked out, respectively, on Thursday morning.
“On behalf of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture we urge you to immediately intervene and do everything necessary to end the labour disruption of Canada’s Class I railways,” CFA President Keith Currie said in an Aug. 16 letter to Prime Minister Trudeau, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon and Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez.
The CFA, along with the Wheat Growers Association, and the Canadian Canola Growers Association and the Canadian Meat Council (CMC), want Minister MacKinnon to use his authority to keep goods moving.
Under section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, the minister can “do what he or she deems expedient to maintain or secure industrial peace…”