CP Rail conductors and locomotive engineers authorize strike amid grain backlog<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n“The fact that CP feels they are being taken hostage by working-class Canadians is a reflection of their failed labour relations strategy.” <\/p>\n
Speaking on a conference call with analysts on Wednesday afternoon, CP’s chief executive Keith Creel also said the company would not take a position “that would destroy our long-term ability to be on solid financial footing.” <\/p>\n
“If it means that we have to experience short-term pain to avoid that long-term damage, then that’s my fiduciary responsibility to all stakeholders, and we’re going to uphold that,” Creel said. <\/p>\n
Teamsters and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) served CP with a 72-hour strike notice on Wednesday, citing a lack of progress at the bargaining table. Around 3,400 workers could walk off the job as early as 12:01 a.m. on Saturday if the parties cannot reach an agreement. <\/p>\n
Teamsters spokesperson Christopher Monette said discussions with company and federal mediators took place in Calgary on Thursday and are still ongoing. <\/p>\n
“Unfortunately, at less than two days from a strike deadline, we have no progress to report,” Monette said in an emailed statement. “We will continue to negotiate in good faith with the company in hopes of reaching a fair contract.” <\/p>\n
A potential strike by CP workers would have wide-ranging consequences at a time when demand is high and the railway is working to alleviate a grain backlog. Farmers have warned that any further service disruptions would be devastating. <\/p>\n
“This would have a domino effect throughout the economy,” said Queen’s University professor George Smith, who has previously negotiated collective agreements with Teamsters. <\/p>\n
“(A strike) could put pressure on the government as well… There will come a point in time if there is a strike with multiple disruptions to multiple industries that the national interest becomes paramount.” <\/p>\n
Email: asiekierska@nationalpost.com | Twitter:<\/span><\/i> Alicjawithaj<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around 3,400 workers could walk off the job as early as 12:01 a.m. on Saturday if a deal is not reached.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6435"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6435"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6438,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6435\/revisions\/6438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}