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Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) at Canadian Pacific (CP) plan to strike on Saturday, making it the third strike in six years.
Earlier this month, a union vote resulted in 94.2% in favour of strike action. After attempted negotiations and CP's request of bringing in the federal government, no agreement has been reached. On Tuesday, Teamsters Canada served a 72-hour strike notice to CP.
If the two parties are unable to negotiate a settlement, more than 3,000 conductors and locomotive engineers plan to strike at 0:01 a.m. on Apr. 21, 2018.
"Systematic harassment and intimidation of its workers and the fact that the train crews are working well beyond their point of exhaustion ensure that workers in the CP are to risk a strike for the third time in six years," said Doug Finnson, TCRC president.
This week, CP issued a statement saying it's working closely with both the TCRC and the IBEW to reach a negotiated settlement in the best interests its customers, shareholders and North Americans.
"We remain committed to achieving a win-win solution and urge the two unions to work closely with us and the federal mediators to achieve a positive outcome as soon as possible in the hours leading up to the deadline," said Keith Creel, CP President and CEO.
CP said negotiations made "significant movement" in bargaining Monday afternoon, stating Teamsters was presented with three and five-year agreement options.
Teamsters Canada is criticizing CP for posting billions in profits while making cuts and concessions.
CP’s profit in 2017 reached $2.4-billion, up by $1-billion since 2014.
The union attributes rising profits despite stagnant sales to cuts, layoffs, closures, and punitive discipline.
Meanwhile, CP described its first quarter as "a challenging quarter, as we battled extreme weather and unprecedented demand, specifically in the northern reaches of our network," said Creel.
Teamsters is also demanding action on workplace safety, such as crew fatigue, and an overhaul of the company's disciplinary policy, which the union describes as abusive.
According to the union, more than 8,000 grievances have been filed against the company by locomotive engineers and conductors. Many of the grievances have been labelled by Transport Canada as crew fatigue, causing an "immediate threat" to rail safety.
"We will do everything in our power to reach a negotiated settlement at CP, but one that is acceptable to our members and that addresses the major issues that exist with this employer," said Finnson.
According to Teamsters, CP acknowledged in 2017 that their actions created a rift with their workers.
"At the end of the day, this is all about our 12,000-strong CP family, and making decisions that benefit all of our employees," said Creel.
He added he is dedicated to serving both customers and shareholders.
"It is never easy to balance all of these competing priorities, but it must be done—achieving this delicate balance is essential to the long-term health of CP for our employees, customers, shareholders and the Canadian economy."
The previous collective agreement with CP expired on December 31, 2017. Negotiations began on November 16, 2017, and federal mediators were brought in on January 29, 2018.
Teamsters represents almost 125,000 workers in Canada, with more than 10,000 representing the rail sector. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated, has 1.4 million members in North America.
Commuter train services in Montreal (RTM), Toronto (Go & UP) and Vancouver (WCE) are operated by Bombardier Transportation and therefore will continue operating.
(Feature Photo Credit: Canadian Pacific Facebook by: Khang Lu)
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