We are disappointed that a national rail strike has begun Thursday morning. Via Rail has confirmed that the 480-km passenger route in Northern Ontario that runs from Sudbury to White River will also be cancelled throughout the duration of the lockout/strike.
Contract talks broke off late Wednesday leading Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) in their first-ever simultaneous work stoppage. This will severely impact supply chains and passenger movement across the country.
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose final, binding arbitration to end the work stoppage Thursday night. Friday evening, Teamsters union served CN Rail with 72-hour strike notice as CPKC stoppage continues, further derailing efforts to restart operations from both companies.
On Saturday, the labour board ruled rail employees back to work. The Canada Industrial Relations Board has imposed binding arbitration on all parties involved.
If the rail disruption impacts your business in any way, please let us know by emailing NOTO staff (info@noto.net) and CFIB (OttawaCFIB@cfib.ca).