OTTAWA—Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet got down to work Thursday as the government faced mounting pressure to reconvene Parliament and end a strike by CN rail workers that premiers warn is already exacting a sharp economic toll. But it was mounting worries of backed-up rail shipments nationwide and calls for federal action that demanded their attention Thursday. Some 3,200 employees who work as train conductors and rail yard co-ordinators, represented by Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference union, walked off the job Tuesday. Alberta’s energy minister and two cabinet colleagues wrote to the federal ministers of agriculture, transport and natural resources, urging them to immediately recall Parliament to introduce emergency back-to-work legislation for CN rail workers. A rail strike that undercuts the economic performance of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec — the very provinces that Trudeau has said need special attention from his government — is a political problem, too.

Source: thestar November 22, 2019 00:32 UTC