Negotiation between employers CN and CPKC, Teamsters stall
A possible strike by railway workers could take place as early as May as negotiations between their union and their employers came to a halt this month.
The latest collective bargaining negotiation session took place the week of Jan. 29.
On Friday, both Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) filed a notice of dispute with the federal government, which started the legal process towards a possible strike or lockout. Under the Canada Labour Code, a work stoppage could occur as soon as 81 days after government mediators are appointed.
Teamsters Canada said that CN and CPKC are not serious about negotiating and avoiding a work stoppage.
The union and the employers are currently in negotiations to renew three collective agreements affecting approximately 9,200 workers at both companies. The issues of rest and worker fatigue were the roadblocks in the negotiation.
“CN and CPKC aim to eliminate all safety-critical rest provisions from our collective agreements. These provisions are necessary to combat crew fatigue and ensure public safety,” said François Laporte, national president of Teamsters Canada. “We want to reach a negotiated settlement, but their demands are non-starters for the Teamsters. Safety is non-negotiable.”
In June 2023, an Ontario Federal Court judge CP Kansas City in contempt of court after it failed to cease and desist in violating the “rest provisions” of two collective agreements.
Federal reconciliation to assist CN negotiations
The employers requested the appointment of a Federal Conciliation Officer to assist CPKC and both the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) – Train & Engine (T&E) division and the TCRC - Rail Canada Traffic Controllers (RCTC) division in reaching negotiated collective agreements.
“Since September 2023, CPKC has been negotiating in good faith with the TCRC - T&E and TCRC - RCTC. CPKC has offered both a fair and balanced agreement with wage and benefit increases and more schedule predictability and quality of life improvements for its T&E employees,” said the employer in a statement.
“CPKC has an excellent track record of successful collective bargaining with its unions. However, Federal Conciliation has been required in nine of the 10 collective bargaining rounds of negotiations between the TCRC - T&E and CPKC since 1993.”
CN also expressed its hopes of coming to an agreement with Teamsters through bargaining.
“CN continues its efforts to modernize its railway in a manner that will deliver the best possible service to our customers, while providing our employees with better work conditions and better work/life balance,” said Pat Whitehead, executive vice-president and chief network operating officer at CN.
“Recent regulatory changes have challenged crew availability and CN is proposing to address that issue through a modernization of the compensation model. A strong supply chain is good for all stakeholders, the economy, and our employees.”
In August 2023, Canada published Regulation SOR/2023-180 under the Canada Labour Code (CLC) (Amending Regulation), which expands the exemption to additional industries. The Amending Regulation’s Regulatory Impact Statement stated:
“The operational reality in sectors with continuous operations (i.e. those that generally operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week such as air and rail transportation) and in sectors with unique scheduling practices (such as banking, telecommunications and broadcasting) is such that scheduling flexibility is required…”
