CALGARY, Alberta — The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference served a 72-hour strike notice to the Canadian Pacific Kansas City union today (August 18), advising that the union will cease operations at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, August 22, unless a last-minute collective bargaining agreement is reached.
Meanwhile, Canadian National Railway announced that it had issued a formal 72-hour lockout order, implementing the plans announced on August 9 (see “Canadian rail strike could begin…”, Trains News Wire, August 9, 2024). CPKC had also announced that it would impose a lockout on August 22.
Strike announcement at CPKC
The TCRC announced the strike after CPKC announced it would lock out union members and change the terms of collective agreements.
“We did not make this decision lightly, but the reckless actions of the CPKC have forced us to do so,” TCRC President Paul Boucher said in a statement. “By unilaterally excluding our members and changing the terms of collective agreements, they are depriving our members of essential protections. We have announced a strike to defend the rights and safety of our members.”
The union said unilaterally amending or terminating an expired collective agreement was “a lesser-known tactic that can be used to force workers to strike while simultaneously blaming the company for the resulting disruption.”
The union claims that CPKC is seeking wage concessions that would make it harder for employees to predict when they will be called to work, “creating a fatigue-related safety risk.” The railroad is also seeking to undermine provisions of the Canada Labour Code and change work rules regarding employee absences from home.
CPKC stated in its latest labor report on August 16 that its current offer “fully complies with the new legal provisions for rest periods and does not compromise safety in any way.” It also said the offer “includes competitive wage increases consistent with recent agreements with other railroad unions.”
The TCRC, which also represents CPCK train controllers, says it has made “numerous proposals to resolve the problems identified by the company,” while the CPKC has not made a single counter-offer or revised its original demands. The CPKC says its offer to the train controllers “would provide competitive wage increases.”
A strike by CPKC drivers will also impact commuter rail operations in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, which rely on CPKC dispatch.
Blocking notification by CN
CN said the formal closure order will also take effect at 12:01 a.m. on August 22. A railroad press release said the move came after “no meaningful progress” was made in negotiations over the weekend and “the parties remain very far apart.” Railroad said it will continue the gradual and phased shutdown of its network and will impose additional closures on Monday, August 19.
The railroad said the TCRC rejected offers from January, April and May. The first two offers were part of what the railroad called a “modernized agreement” – meaning the focus was on hourly wages rather than the current structure – while the May offer was under the existing collective agreement. The railroad said the offer included improved wages and predictable days off. The railroad also sought binding arbitration to settle the contract. This was rejected by the union and Canadian Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon when the railroad asked him to order arbitration (see “Canada’s labour minister won’t order CN-union contract talks binding,” News Wire, Aug. 15, 2024).
Boucher, president of the TCRC, responded to the notice by saying that the railroad was “demanding concessions that would take working conditions back to another era.” The union claimed that the company was demanding an extension of workdays in the provinces west of Ontario, “creating a fatigue-related safety hazard,” and was seeking to enforce a policy of forced relocation.
“The biggest sticking points are the company’s demands, not the unions’ proposals,” Boucher said. “If there is a work stoppage, the blame will clearly lie with CN.”
