Canada Railway Strike Caused The Divorce

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Landlocked provinces like Manitoba rely on freight trains to bring food, furniture, cars, building material, you name it. They are also highly unionized. Justin Trudeau said he stopped the August strike to prevent disruption to the economy. Jagmeet Singh says he messed with workers right to bargain.

Jagmeet Singh, the NDP leader broke the ‘working agreement’ with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party because of priorities. The two men have different constituencies with conflicting priorities and that fragile partnership was bound to break at some point. Think of salt and water. Salt says to water: I’ll work with you provided you don’t dissolve me.”

What prompted Jagmeet Singh to opt out of the agreement, was the August labour dispute between railway workers and the following railway companies.

- Canadian National Railway (CN)

- Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC)

Railway workers are unionized under Teamsters Rail. Jagmeet Singh is the leader of a workers’ party, while Justin Trudeau is the leader of a country called Canada. Railway workers and employers had been at loggerheads because of a safety issue, for quite some time. 

On 18 August Teamsters Rail gave employers a three day strike notice that workers will down tools. The two employers retaliated by locking them out on 22 August. Trudeau’s government stopped the strike and forced both parties to go for binding arbitration. That is what broke the camel’s back.

Labour Day 2024. Jagmeet Singh talking to the provincial NDP caucus led by Wab Kinew (with tattoo), the Manitoba Premier.

Remember Labour Day? It was on 2 September. Jagmeet Singh was in Manitoba, a Canadian province ruled by a pro-labour government. He denounced the binding arbitration and said the Prime Minister took away workers’ right to strike. Justin Trudeau said the strike was going to disrupt the economy.

On 4 September, Jagmeet Singh announced the end of his agreement with Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party. This is the context of the current crisis in Canada’s House of Commons.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Blogger Without Borders

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