Push for CN strike action derailed by political bickering
Both sides of the Saskatchewan legislature want a quick end to the Canadian National strike before it bites deeper into the provincial economy, but competing motions fell off the rails on Thursday as the government and Opposition bickered over how to get there.
Premier Scott Moe proposed a motion calling on the federal government to “immediately end the CN Rail strike” either through binding arbitration or back-towork legislation.
The motion failed when the NDP objected, as it came on short notice and required unanimous consent. The NDP’S own motion urging Canadian National Railway (CN) to “urgently negotiate a fair deal” met the same fate when the government refused permission.
The dispute came on the third day of the strike. About 3,200 members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference walked off the job Tuesday after the union and CN Rail failed to reach a contract deal. Moe has since warned that the work stoppage will weigh heavily on farmers and other industries trying to move product to market.
Moe already called on Ottawa to consider back to work legislation on Wednesday. But he seemed to turn up the pressure on Thursday. He said Saskatchewan cannot wait a day for action. Parliament isn’t sitting until Dec. 5, and Moe warned that will be too late to alleviate the economic harm facing farmers who’ve already suffered from a difficult harvest.
CN has called for binding arbitration, and Moe said that remains the quickest route to a resolution. He said the path to passing backto-work legislation would be long and “tedious.” But he still called on Ottawa to move without delay if the arbitration option fails.
“If we’re not able to have both parties agree to binding arbitration or to some type of an agreement that would allow the trains to move in the very near future — and we’re talking hours now, not days — the federal government should entertain coming back sooner rather than later,” he said.
Moe said he spoke with federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau on Thursday morning and Inter governmental Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland on Wednesday evening about the strike. He said Garneau, in particular, signalled that it’s among his top priorities.
The premier faulted the NDP for preventing his motion from coming up for debate.
“What we saw from the NDP was an ideological position,” said Moe.
The Saskatchewan Party quickly weaponized the defeat of the government motion by posting a social media meme accusing the NDP of blocking debate. The post featured a photo of NDP Leader Ryan Meili, who was not in the chamber on Thursday.
Moe said he could not support the Opposition motion as it would simply prolong the strike and put jobs at risk.
“The goal is to end the strike. The NDP motion does nothing of the sort,” said Moe. “The NDP motion is a status quo motion. We need the federal government to engage.”
But Opposition finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said the government is treating CN with “kid gloves.”
“This government has been weak with our duopoly, the rail companies that are so important to getting our product to market,” said Wotherspoon. “Time and time again, we’ve watched that system not perform at the level that we need it to for many years. We’ve watched it fail our exporters.”
He called back-to-work legislation heavy handed and too political. He said the premier is essentially calling for the suspension of labour rights for rail workers.
“We put forward a constructive motion today,” said Wotherspoon. “I’m disappointed it didn’t gain the support of the government.”