Canada’s transport minister won’t intervene in rail dispute, Sask. calls for action to avoid strike [Video]

The federal government said it won’t intervene in the rail dispute that has the Ministry of Agriculture and other groups worried about a possible strike.

The government of Saskatchewan, CN Rail, and a number of business leaders have called on the federal government to step in with binding arbitration.

In a letter to Teamsters Canada Rail, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said it would not intervene.

“I would like to clarify that it is your shared responsibility — Canadian National Railways Company and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference — to negotiate in good faith and work diligently towards a new collective agreement,” MacKinnon wrote in the letter.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and CN Rail said they’ll lock out workers if an agreement with its union can’t be reached by Thursday.

Negotiations have been ongoing for months, but little progress has been made towards a deal.

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