OTTAWA — Canada is moving to end a labor dispute that ground its major rail lines to a halt and dented the country’s brand while it is trying to bolster its trade cred with the U.S.
Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon said Thursday he’s ordered a labor relations board to impose binding arbitration, and that he’s “confident” it will end the strike within days.
CN Rail and Canadian Pacific Kansas City locked out workers early Thursday morning after bargaining talks blew past the deadline, upending supply chains and threatening major trade flows of commodities like food, autos and energy.
“Canadians must be assured that their government will not allow them to suffer when parties do not fulfill their responsibility to them at the bargaining table,” MacKinnon said.
