The question of workers' rights took on renewed urgency this month after a work stoppage on the rails came to an abrupt end, thanks to a government directive handed down barely 16 hours after the shutdown began. Locked out Canadian National Rail workers stand at a picket line as locomotives are moved by management at CN Rail's Thornton Yard, in Surrey, B.C., Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck