Unionized conductors and train and yard service staff with Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) have voted in favour of strike action which could begin as early as March 16.
The Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference – Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY) announced Monday that a strike vote it conducted through February went 96.7 per cent in favour of strike action “if necessary.”
The vote was originally to run until Feb. 21 as ballots went out starting Feb. 1 to 3,062 eligible TCRC-CTY members. It was later extended to Feb. 28 following “numerous requests for replacement ballots due to various reasons including undelivered ballots.”
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The Teamsters said Monday they still plan to “continue to participate in the mediation process” with CP and the federal labour ministry’s Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS), with meetings now due to be held March 11-16.
However, the union said, local Teamsters chiefs will now discuss making the “preparations necessary” in case a strike or lockout begins March 16.
“While we are committed to negotiating collective agreements, we must move forward to make the arrangements for a work stoppage if required,” the Teamsters said Monday.
The “main issues at hand” in their dispute with CP are wages, benefits, and pensions, the union said previously.
For its part, CP said Thursday it has “offered a fair and balanced agreement, including wage increases, for a two-year collective agreement, and have agreed to 20 union demands on benefits and work rules in order to achieve labour certainty and stability for the next two years.”
A spokesperson for Calgary-based CP said Thursday the railway “has an excellent track record of successful collective bargaining with our unions (but) unfortunately, the TCRC has relied on federal conciliation in eight of the nine collective bargaining negotiations since 1993.”
The most recent collective bargaining agreement between CP and the TCRC-CTY expired at the end of 2021.
That four-year agreement was reached after a one-day strike in May 2018; the deal leading up to the 2018 strike was itself reached after a one-day strike in February 2015, ending in binding arbitration.
CP said Thursday TCRC leadership now “appears poised to force a shutdown of the essential rail supply chain, jeopardizing Canada’s national economy, by making unreasonable demands.”
No matter how long any work stoppage lasts, CP added, it would “impact virtually all commodities within the Canadian supply chain” and its consequences “will be felt long after workers return to work and service resumes.”
In a separate release later Thursday, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and National Cattle Feeders’ Association underlined that point by warning that any labour-related disruption in the current flow of feed grain shipments from the U.S. “will significantly impact the ability of beef producers to feed their cattle.”
Producers of feed grains across Western Canada saw their yields severely curbed by drought in 2021, leading to a major increase in northbound truck and train shipments of U.S. corn for feed.
However, cross-border road and rail transportation issues up until now had “already reduced feed availability and feeders have been managing their needs on a train-by-train basis,” the associations said. “There is no buffer in the system.”
The two groups said they “strongly encourag(e) both sides to reach a solution prior to the strike action deadline” and failing that, CP and the Teamsters “should move directly to binding arbitration to avoid a strike and the resulting necessity of implementing back-to-work legislation.”
The groups estimated “over 1,000 super-B trucks would be needed weekly” to replace the volume of feed grain CP trains now handle — and “trucking capacity is not available, leaving no alternative solutions.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network
