CN, CPKC workers approve strike mandate as possible work stoppage looms

Employees at Canada’s two largest railways have licensed a strike that might see 1000’s of staff stroll off the job in three weeks if they’re unable to achieve new offers on contract calls for.

About 6,000 staff at Canadian National Railway Co. and three,300 at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. voted greater than 97 per cent in favour of a strike mandate this week, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference stated Wednesday.

“After six months of negotiations with each corporations, we are not any nearer to reaching a settlement than after we first started. Both corporations try to strip our collective agreements of safety-critical relaxation provisions,” stated union president Paul Boucher.

“We are at an impasse.”

Boucher warned {that a} work stoppage at each CN and CPKC concurrently would disrupt provide chains on an unprecedented scale, calling for a deal that doesn’t “put earnings over folks.”

CPKC stated that the 2 deal choices it has introduced present main advantages to staff and compromise nothing on security. “To say or suggest otherwise is false,” the corporate stated in a bargaining replace.

But it agreed on the disruptive affect of a strike or lockout.

“A work stoppage will impact all Canadians. It will halt freight traffic on CPKC’s Canadian rail network. It would disrupt essential supply chains throughout North America and significantly constrain trade between Canada and the U.S. and Mexico,” the Calgary-based firm stated.

Commuters in Canada’s three largest cities is also affected. Among the potential strikers are dispatchers who direct passenger trains on CPKC-owned rails utilized by riders alongside Toronto’s GO Transit community as effectively Montreal’s Exo line and Vancouver’s West Coast Express.

While CPKC stated these providers “will be unable to operate,” the TransLink regional transportation authority in Metro Vancouver stated it does “not expect any impact” to the West Coast Express.

A CN spokesman stated the corporate stays targeted on discovering a deal that may profit each staff and the nation’s largest railroad operator, partially by “addressing work-life balance and productivity.”

“Even when the company proposed a solution that would not touch duty-rest rules, the union has rejected it,” stated Jonathan Abecassis.

Three completely different contracts are below dialogue — for CN staff, for CPKC staff and for CPKC rail site visitors controllers.

This week’s strike authorization vote, which noticed greater than 91 per cent turnout, means conductors, engineers, yard staff and dispatchers may hit the picket strains as quickly as May 22, with a compulsory federal mediation interval kicking off on Wednesday.

The union and administration every accused the opposite of obstinance on the bargaining desk.

“We are here to negotiate. However, all three bargaining committees continue to see little to no engagement from the companies,” Boucher informed reporters at a press convention in Ottawa on Wednesday.

“The union is unavailable to meet until May 13,” CN retorted.

“Ultimately, despite five months of consistent discussions, (Teamsters) has made very few concessions towards a negotiated agreement and has been unclear on what it is seeking for employees other than to continue focusing on a list of approximately 200 local and regional demands unrelated to a modern consolidated agreement benefitting employees and customers alike,” the Montreal-based firm stated in a launch.

CN struck a observe of pessimism across the probability of a clean decision.

“Regrettably, CN maintains a cautious outlook regarding the possibility of finalizing a deal before a labour disruption that would affect the Canadian supply chain, the North American economy and our employees,” it stated.

However, CN staff in a separate union did handle to discover a center floor with the railway Wednesday. The firm introduced a brand new three-year collective settlement with 2,500 observe and bridge staff who deal with railroad upkeep. They make up a small slice of the United Steelworkers’ Canadian membership.

Meanwhile, tense talks between Montreal port employers and the union representing some 1,200 dockworkers have stirred up extra fears of one more potential strike this spring. Longshore staff rejected a suggestion by administration final week, voting greater than 99.5 per cent towards the would-be deal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed May 1, 2024