Canada’S Two Major Railroads, Canadian National Railway And Canadian Pacific Railway, Have Been Issued A Back-To-Work Order.

The North American economy received protection from a messy railroad labour dispute as a Canadian arbitrator ordered employees at the country’s two major railroads back to work. The order, issued on Saturday, allowed Canadian National to continue operating the trains that were restarted on Friday morning after a lockout of workers. However, Canadian Pacific Kansas City is expected to resume operations today, as workers were ordered to return at 12:01 a.m.

The role of railroads in the economy is crucial, with CPKC and CN delivering shipments worth over CA$1 billion (US$730 million) daily and transporting billions of dollars’ worth of goods between the U.S. and Canada each month.

Although the companies’ trains in the United States and Mexico remained operational during the lockouts, it still caused significant disruption. Smaller short-line freight railroads that handle local deliveries continued to operate in Canada but were unable to transfer shipments to either major railroad while they were idle.

The Teamsters union, which represents the workers, stated its compliance with the Canada Industrial Relations Board order to send its members back to work. However, they also mentioned their intention to challenge the arbitration order legally.