3,000 CP Rail workers could be on strike by end of week as union serves 72-hour notice
The union representing more than 3,000 conductors and locomotive engineers served Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. with a 72-hour strike notice on Wednesday, citing a lack of progress at the bargaining table.
Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said negotiations with CP are set to resume on Wednesday. If the two parties cannot reach a settlement, the union said about 3,000 workers will go on strike at 12:01 a.m. on April 21.
CP said in a statement Wednesday that it had been working closely with the union and “made a significant movement” on Monday, offering new three and five-year agreement options.
Union members had voted 94.2 per cent in favour of authorizing strike action on April 6. Teamsters said its key concerns are long hours and worker fatigue, as well as cuts that have come as CP remains a profitable company.
The previous collective agreement with CP expired at the end of 2017. Negotiations have been ongoing since November.
CP released a statement late last Friday saying that “a significant gap” remained between the company and the union. The railway said a work stoppage would “severely impact CP’s ability to continue to provide safe and efficient freight and passenger/commuter service.”
Specifically, CP’s chief executive Keith Creel said that a strike would impact commuters using the West Coast Express in the Lower Mainland, Réseau de Transport Métropolitain in Montreal and Metrolinx in the Toronto-area.
Teamsters responded by saying CP’s statement was “replete with fabrication and innuendo” and that “the company is attempting to manufacture a crisis to force government intervention and avoid bargaining with Teamsters.”
CP could also see 366 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) walk off the job on Saturday. On April 12, 98.3 per cent of the IBEW’s members voted to authorize strike action.
The potential of a strike comes as CP — as well as rival Canadian National Railway — work to alleviate a grain backlog that has infuriated many producers in Western Canada.
CP will release its first quarter results after the markets close Wednesday.
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