Canadian Pacific braces for TCRC strike
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefThe Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Running Trades (TCRC-RT), the union representing more than 3,000 active Canadian Pacific locomotive engineers and conductors at CP, has provided official notice of its intent to strike the railroad in the event there is not a negotiated settlement on contract talks that have been ongoing for more than one year.
“Despite Canadian Pacific’s best efforts to reach an agreement, a work stoppage can occur as early as 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 15, 2015,” said Vice President Human Resources and Labor Relations Peter Edwards. “CP’s offers included wage increases, better benefit plans, and the re-instatement of the Employee Share Purchase Plan in a long-term agreement. We also proposed a model that will improve the scheduling of regular time off and quality of life while enhancing our service and efficiency, but the union has not been interested.”
Edwards said that CP asked the TCRC-RT to start bargaining on a new contract in December 2013, “a full year before it was set to expire. And despite the union’s earlier commitment to consider protecting grain shipments and commuter rail service in Montreal, it appears now that will not be the case.” However, “Canadian Pacific is committed to finding a workable solution with the union and continues to bargain in good faith,” he added.
Subject to the union’s decision to strike, CP will implement what it describes as “an extensive contingency plan by deploying qualified management employees to maintain a reduced freight service on its Canadian network. CP will work with its customers to advise them on how this work stoppage will affect them.”
TCRC President Douglas Finnson said that the union membership “is determined to achieve a negotiated settlement, which addresses the issues they face on a daily basis. CP is completely unable to provide the majority of our members with any sort of accurate information on when they are required to work. The CP negotiators have admitted their lineup model is completely unpredictable, and they are simply unable to fix it. Furthermore, CP is either unwilling or unable to comply with the collective agreements that require train crews stop operating and obtain rest after 10 continuous hours of work. These are only two examples of the dysfunctional working conditions created by CP for the Teamsters members, and represent significant issues for train crews, which the union negotiating committee is trying to fix.”
“The Teamsters are in Montreal meeting with CP with the assistance of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services,” Finnson added. “The union has provided CP with a sensible and effective set of options that will correct many terrible working conditions, and will continue to work toward effective solutions should CP want to make positive changes. The TCRC is optimistic that CP will be able to agree with an acceptable set of terms the membership will ratify.”
There are five long-term collective agreements in place between CP and its Canadian unions, including two with Teamsters unions. CP employees represented by the Teamsters Rail Traffic Controllers (TCRC-RTC), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Teamsters Maintenance of Way employees (TCRC-MWED), Police (CPPA), and United Steel Workers (USW) have all ratified long-term deals, “with acceptance rates between 90% and 97.5%,” CP said.
