Rail workers pushing back hard against federal government move to get them back to work

Rail workers pushed back hard Friday against the federal government's move to get them back on the job, with a new strike notice and a regulatory challenge making it unclear when freight traffic will fully resume.

Rail workers pushed back hard Friday against the federal government's move to get them back on the job, with a new strike notice and a regulatory challenge making it unclear when freight traffic will fully resume.

At Canadian National Railway Co., trains began to move again Friday morning as workers started to trickle back to work — even as the Teamsters union issued a 72-hour strike notice against CN shortly before 10 a.m. EDT.

And at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., the union has challenged a directive for binding arbitration issued by Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to the country's labour board.

A work stoppage at both national railways prompted MacKinnon to ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Thursday to use the mechanism, aimed at resolving an impasse that has halted freight shipments and snarled commuter lines across the country.

The labour board summoned the parties to a meeting Thursday night, followed by a hearing Friday morning.

The tribunal said in an email it is addressing the issue "with utmost urgency." A decision is expected later in the day.

Pickets continue at the head office of CPKC in Calgary and those on the line received a visit from Francois Laporte, the national president of Teamsters Canada Friday morning.