Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
You wanted the government to intervene in private business negotiations before there was a problem?
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Yes! This is a national concern and an international embarrassment coming along the heels of other significant work stoppages, strikes, lockouts, border crossing blockades, port strikes, CBSA concerns and everything else I mentioned.
The railroads and the unions were too far apart in their dealings that it was always going to go down this route. to my knowledge there was nothing stopping the government from going with binding arbitration at all. Both side were not arguing about a point here and there. One side said 2+2 = 5 and the other side is saying that it equals kangaroo zoo. There was no discussion to be had between the two.
Government can indicate very strong preferences for a deal to be done, very strong. You can put the message out that both sides in whatever dispute can cut the ****. Effectively that is what binding arbitration tries to achieve.
Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world, 1 of our 2 major airlines had a strike/lockout a month ago that caused chaos with everybody and imposed untold financial and emotional hardship on travelers. Now we have both national railways that operate in Canada in the same scenario, both of which have significant US, Mexico and international exposure and dealings. Yesterday we had the other airline discussing strike/lockout actions. Great! More chaos ! Real serious country and business environment we have here.
The federal government is beyond useless in this regard and it shows, highlighted by the fact that literally every single business organization, trade group, provincial government and more specifically said do not allow this historic railway action to go through. We can't afford the concerns and the costs! Just so you don't think this is a Trudeau thing, I assume the other side would be just as useless in the exact same scenario.
Everybody forgetting that there are billions of dollars at stake and confidence in business and employment that needs to be restored. We are suppose to be a modern economy, this isn't a Pepsi stand that has closed up shop for lunch.
This reminds me of the Freedom Convey and the closure of the Ambassador Bridge linking Detriot and Windsor. Government officials of all stripes playing games and having a deer in the headlight look. Nothing getting done until the White House called with a "Knock this BS off and get this border open" and all of a sudden action takes place 5 days later.