Work is underway to get Canada's rail system back up and operational.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board released its decision late Saturday, reinforcing the Labour Minister's order for binding arbitration and the extension of collective agreements until a new deal is signed.
A statement on the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference website says they will comply with the decision, but will also appeal the ruling to federal court.
CN started gearing up late last week, while CPKC workers were back on the job early this morning.
The CIRB will be convening a case management meeting with the parties on Thursday (August 29) to discuss the imposition of final binding interest arbitration.
Canada's rail system is a vital mode of transportation not just for grain, but other commodities like feed for the livestock sector, fertilizer, fuel, propane, automobiles, lumber and more.
Estimates suggest that last week's lockout by CPKC and CN rail will cost $50 million a day until the trains are back on track and that's just for the grain sector.
The shutdown created a major backlog in the rail system, and the logistics of trying to reschedule everything will be a challenge.
Mark Walker, Vice President of Markets and Trade for Cereals Canada says 85 per cent of our product moves by rail, 1800 kilometres from Regina to tidewater in Vancouver.
It will take several weeks, if not months, for Canada's rail system to recover from the shutdown, estimates suggest that for every week of shutdown, it can take upwards of three months to recoup that.
Walker told us Friday that it’s of primary importance that we get the trains moving as quickly as possible, and they expect all parties to comply with the Minister’s direction.
"I'm getting text messages from customers around the world, all of who are watching this and questioning our reputation as a reliable hire."
Walker says he's been trying to reassure customers.
Canada's farm groups note that while the move to implement binding arbitration is positive, in the end, the situation was avoidable.
They say moving forward, they want to see the government and all political parties working together to find a long-term solution to ensure this type of event does not happen again, with many calling for Ottawa to designate the railways as an essential service.
Walker points out there is legislative framework for these sorts of negotiations.
"I think you know, coming out of this, it's really highlighted how fragile and how dependent our economy is on all parties involved. So we need a better system. We've been discussing that with a few folks in the industry for quite some time."
He says it's important that we focus on that once everything is back up and operational because certainly, this cannot continue to happen.
"We're the only G7 nation where this seems to happen with any sort of frequency and it continually impacts our position as a reliable supplier of food security around the world."