Workers at Canada’s second largest railway company repeated today that they are ready to walk off the job as early as Sunday unless a negotiated settlement can be reached with their employer, Canadian Pacific Railway.
About 3,300 unionized workers at CP, including locomotive engineers and conductors, will be in a position to strike as early as 12:01 a.m. Feb. 15.
On Feb. 7, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) voted 93 percent in favour of strike action if a settlement is not reached before Sunday morning.
Teamsters president Doug Finnson told the Western Producer Feb. 11 that talks with CP will continue until the strike deadline, adding that union negotiators are still hopeful that an agreement can be reached.
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But Finnson said little progress has been made on the workers’ primary bargaining issue, which involves rest periods and shift relief for workers who don’t want to work more than 10 hours in a single shift.
Under the previous contract, locomotive engineers and conductors were entitled to rest after working for 10 consecutive hours.
But Finnson said CP’s record in providing relief crews has been poor.
More frequently than not, train crews remain on the job for up to 12 hours, at which point rest breaks are mandatory.
Scheduling is another major point of contention, he added.
Under the current scheduling system, train workers that are off duty are never entirely sure when their next shift will start, a situation that affects their quality of life during time off.
On Feb. 10, CP issued a statement saying it remains “committed to finding a workable solution.”
CP has offered “wage increases, better benefit plans and the re-instatement of the Employee Share Purchase Plan in a long-term agreement,” said Peter Edwards, CP’s vice-president of human resources and labour relations.
“We also proposed a model that will improve the scheduling of regular time off and quality of life while enhancing our service and efficiency, but the union has not been interested.”
Speaking at an investor’s conference Feb. 11, CP chief operating officer Keith Creel said the company will be prepared if workers walk off the job, adding that managers will be ready to take over if engineers and conductors go on strike.
In addition to CTRC workers, CP is also negotiating with members of another union, Unifor, which represents about 1,650 safety and maintenance workers at CP.
The mediation period for Unifor workers is also set to end Feb. 15. Those would be required to give 72 hours notice of their intention to strike.
Finnson said the looming threat of back-to-work legislation weakens the union’s bargaining position considerably.
“Back-to-work legislation is the reason why CP Rail will not come to the table and bargain (a settlement),” he said.
“If the government would keep their nose out of our business and let the people handle it themselves, we would get an acceptable negotiated settlement.”
CTRC represents about 3,300 engineers, conductors, trainmen and yardmen, all located in Canada.
Contact brian.cross@producer.com
