And just like that, another Canadian railway strike was resolved, adding to a string of such strikes and resolutions going back over a decade. Canadian rail service Canadian National Railways (TSE:CNR) is now back to work after a federal labor board decision turned the strike on its head. Canadian National stock, meanwhile, notched up fractionally in Monday morning’s trading.
On Thursday of last week, Canadian National shut down rail service, locking out workers who were planning to strike anyway. It was a move that impacted over 9,000 workers, as other Canadian rail operations did likewise. This move also hit freight traffic lines and commuter service throughout the country, making for a difficult few days of getting products and people where they needed to be.
But the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which is likely balking at the estimated C$1 billion per day price tag such a move would mean for the economy, stepped in. It declared both would need to get back to work ahead of the “binding arbitration” that would take place. The Teamsters—the union involved—declared it would fight the move in court.
Neither Side Is Particularly Happy
Neither side is particularly happy about this outcome. The Teamsters, as noted previously, intend to take the matter to court and attempt to get it resolved there. But for its part, CN was only moderately pleased with the outcome. Yes, it was glad to get rail service back on track, but it noted its disappointment at being unable to reach an agreement in the first place.
For now, it’s back to the status quo. The previous agreement has been declared currently in force by government order, and the two sides will go back to butting heads with absolutely no risk of strike or lockout, as the government order has also forbidden those things from taking place during the process. That does put the Teamsters on the back foot here (what threat can they bring to bear now?), but those are the current conditions.
Is Canadian National Railway a Good Stock to Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TSE:CNR stock based on seven Buys and 14 Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 6.3% rally in its share price over the past year, the average TSE:CNR price target of C$181.32 per share implies 14.08% upside potential.
