Canada's labour minister is seeking outside help to get CN Rail engineers back on the job, just hours after they walked out.
Rona Ambrose issued a statement hoping the Teamsters union will agree to a third-party arbitration settlement with CN to end the strike initiated last night. In the same statement she expressed her disappointment with the union's inability to reach a deal before last night's midnight deadline.
"I am committed to protecting Canadians and the Canadian economy and I will make every effort to shield them from the damaging effects of a strike," Ambrose said.
"At a time when our economy is still recovering, our government will not support a disruption to such a vital component of Canada's economy."
CN has already agreed to sit down with an arbitrator and is looking for union co-operation in ending the dispute.
No response has been issued yet by the Teamsters, which means the 1,700 engineers are still off the job protesting a proposed 1.5 per cent wage increase and higher mileage caps. The monthly 500-mile increase could force some engineers to work seven days a week while others suffer layoffs.
Teamsters union spokesman Stephane Lacroix said a strike could have been postponed had the railway agreed to negotiate those two key issues instead of invoking the changes after negotiations broke off on Nov. 20.
Last-minute talks broke down yesterday in Montreal after government mediators called both sides to the table in efforts to prevent a stoppage.
Teamsters Canada Rail Conference president Daniel Shewchuk said in an interview earlier Saturday that while the union made "substantial movement" during Friday's talks, the railway wouldn't budge.
"We got very little, if nothing, back from the company, which basically drew the line in the sand," Shewchuk said Saturday.
CN's last contract offer included improved benefits and a two per cent wage increase in this year and over the course of 2010 and 2011. The raise would jump to three per cent for 2012, in hopes of long-term labour stability.
CN communications director Mark Hallman said that the union was making "excessive demands" in the face of what he called reasonable proposals.
CN supervisors and managers who are trained engineers have taken over for the striking workers on an interim basis in hopes of minimizing service disruptions. Industry analysts have said that the move could keep the company operating, though not at full strength.
"We're going to try to provide the best service we can, given the circumstances," said CN communications director, Mark Hallman. "We will advise our customers and other stakeholders on the state of operations as we move forward."
Though Via Rail's passenger service is not believed to be effected by the stoppage, commercial shipping -- particularly grains coming from Western Canada -- will take a hit as long as the strike continues.
The last strike at CN in 2007 was ended after more than two months by a Parliamentary back-to-work legislation. That strike, by 2,800 conductors represented by the United Transportation Union cost the railway an estimated $85 million in combined operating and net income.
