Railway workers are strongly resisting the federal government's move to bring them back to work.

At Canadian National Railway, trains began to move again on Friday morning as workers returned to their jobs - even with the truck drivers' union issuing a 72-hour strike notice against Canadian National Railway shortly after 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

At Kansas City Canadian Pacific Railway, the union representing about 3,300 employees of the Canadian railway is challenging a binding arbitration directive issued by Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon to the country's labor board.

The unprecedented work stoppage at the national railway prompted MacKinnon to call on the Canadian Industrial Relations Board on Thursday to use the mechanism to resolve the deadlock that halted freight shipments and disrupted passenger lines across the country.

The labor board called the parties to a meeting on Thursday evening, followed by a hearing on Friday morning.

The court states that it is addressing the issue "with the utmost urgency." A decision is expected later today.

The minister has faced pressure from business groups, which warned of the economic consequences of the work stoppage and urged Ottawa to resolve the deadlock and resume freight service.

In a press conference on Thursday, MacKinnon said that the government is "fully committed to collective bargaining," but he noted that the effects of the shutdown are felt by all Canadians.

He stated that the government has given negotiations "every possible chance to succeed."

Each side has accused the other of failing to negotiate in good faith. The union said it rejected binding arbitration, viewing Ottawa's decision as a step "to avoid it."

Paul Bouché, president of the Truck Drivers Conference of Canada, said in a statement released Thursday evening: "Despite claiming to value and respect the collective bargaining process, the federal government quickly used its power to suspend it, just hours after the employer-imposed work stoppage."

The union stated that both companies are pushing to weaken protections around breaks and scheduling. It says that CN is also seeking a scheme that would see some employees relocated to remote sites for several months at a time to fill work gaps.

For travelers, traffic congestion continues.

More than 30,000 passengers daily in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver take passenger trains operating on tracks owned by CPKC, which currently have no railway traffic controllers to dispatch the locomotives.

The agency responsible for GO Transit in Ontario stated that service will remain suspended on Friday on the Milton line and at Hamilton GO station, while the regional transit provider in British Columbia, TransLink, said service for West Coast Express will also be suspended. Additionally, three lines of the Exo train network in the Montreal area will remain halted.

VIA Rail stated that trains on its route extending 480 kilometers between Sudbury and White River, which operates three times a week in Northern Ontario, have been canceled until the work stoppage is resolved.