Rail Workers Push Back on Binding Arbitration, Union Gives 72-Hour Strike Notice to CN

Locked out Canadian National Railway workers stand at a picket line as locomotives are moved by management at CN Rail's Thornton Yard in Surrey, B.C., on Aug. 22, 2024. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

Rail workers are pushing back against Ottawa’s move to force binding arbitration, with CN workers issuing a new strike notice and CPKC workers initiating a regulatory challenge. 

Operations resumed at Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) as employees gradually returned to their duties Aug. 23, even as the Teamsters union issued a 72-hour strike notice against the company shortly before 10 a.m. EDT.