OTTAWA — The strike at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. could be over in days after the Conservative government introduced legislation to force railroad employees back to work.

“This strike can’t go on. We do need to get the trains running again,” federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt said in the House of Commons Monday as she announced her intention to force an end to the strike. “So, I am going to call upon my fellow members today to support this bill, to support its expedited passage and allow our economy to recover and to keep Canadians working.”

She had already sent a strong signal that she would do so shortly after 4,800 workers walked off the job and halted freight train service nationwide last Wednesday.

Six days later, after talks between management at CP and Teamsters Canada, the union representing striking workers, had broken down with little hope of picking up again, Raitt made good on her promise.

The bill tabled Monday afternoon orders employees back to work immediately and requires the federal government to appoint an arbitrator to settle any outstanding disputes over the collective agreement.

The arbitrator will have 90 days to report back, although there is flexibility for the labour minister to extend the deadline.

CP spokesman Ed Greenberg said the company will co-operate with any decision of Parliament.

Although Raitt has said CP could be up and running by Thursday, Greenberg said it’s too early to say.

“Once the legislative process unfolds, our company will shift our attention to fully preparing for a timely and disciplined ramp-up in operations with a view to achieve full production levels as soon as possible,” he said.

When asked how long it would take to clear the backlog and return to normal operations, Greenberg said he couldn’t speculate.

Doug Finnson, vice-president of Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, was relieved to see the legislation did not favour the employer, but noted the emphasis shifts to the choice of arbitrator.

“Do they have experience and knowledge in the federal sector, in pension issues and rail issues?” Finnson said.

Raitt echoed the argument she had used to justify back-to-work legislation to end earlier disputes at Air Canada and Canada Post.

“Although our economy is recovering, it is still fragile and we have to ask ourselves the question of whether or not, for the nation’s good, can we afford this work stoppage at CP rail to continue?” Raitt said in the Commons on Monday.

And she brought four other cabinet colleagues – Transport Minister Denis Lebel, Industry Minister Christian Paradis, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz – along to a news conference to help her explain how the strike was negatively impacting various sectors of the economy.

The news conference included a partisan message from Raitt urging the New Democrats to help her pass the legislation quickly.

“We’re asking (NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and his party) to stop putting big-union interests ahead of the Canadian public and ahead of our economic recovery,” Raitt said Monday. “We want the opposition to put the public interest and the Canadian economy first and we want them to join our government to ensure that Canadians can get back to work.”

NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice said the Conservative government had a negative effect on negotiations by letting everyone know it would force an end to the strike.

“Threatening a special bill to force a return to work is an attack against a fundamental right, the right of association, the right to negotiate freely and it completely shifted the balance at the negotiation table,” Boulerice told reporters on Monday. “After Ms. Raitt’s announcement last week, there was no motivation on the part of the employer to find a negotiated solution.”

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Finnson said the decision will have a profound impact on collective bargaining in the country.

“If collective bargaining isn’t dead, it’s certainly under attack,” Finnson told a news conference in Ottawa on Monday. “I think what we’re witnessing here is controlled collective bargaining. You can collectively bargain, as long as you do what the company wants, and as long as you do what the government wants and that’s controlled collective bargaining. That’s not fair and open in my view.”

With files from Vanessa Lu

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