On Thursday, the lockout barring Canada’s 9,300 rail workers came to a close after only one day. It was the one time a union made sensible asks to an unreasonable duopoly of employers, and the Liberals caved. With a few harsh, inconsequential words, the supine New Democrats backed them up completely.

The material significance of government intervention, at this time, is low. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon referred the dispute to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, asking it to “assist the parties in settling” the dispute with means that include “imposing binding arbitration,” which — if the board so chooses — would have a third-party adjudicator force the parties into an agreement. He did not end the dispute, nor did he order binding arbitration, contrary to CBC’s announcement. In fact, it’s questionable whether he even has the authority to do such a thing.