It looks like the federal government will move to order CP workers back to work and impose a settlement solution.
As a farmer and a shipper, I wonder if this is the optimal course of action. Maybe it would be better to let the new management of CP take control and deal with this labour issue. By imposing a settlement today, the government is only kicking the can of excessive costs down the road.
It could even be possible to argue that the government is playing into the union hands with this proposed action. They are not dumb. Would they want a mediated settlement imposed by a “reasonable judge” or have to negotiate an agreement with Hunter Harrison?
Perhaps it is time in the interests of shippers to let this strike play out in the interests of structural change that could benefit all of the economy.
