Unifor Ratifies New Labor Agreement With CP

Canadian Pacific (CP) announced Feb. 16 that Unifor members have ratified a new two-year collective agreement covering approximately 1,200 CP mechanical employees in Canada. The new contract will expire in Dec. 31, 2024.

According to Unifor, members from British Columbia to Quebec, who provide maintenance service and safety inspections to locomotives and freight cars and produce track and freight car/locomotive components, voted to ratify the new agreement, which includes “gains to group benefit maximums, enhancements to job security allowances and significant increases to shift premiums.”

“Rail workers, just like workers in many sectors across Canada, are bargaining in particularly challenging conditions right now,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “The members of the 101-R bargaining committee remained focused and committed to achieving a fair agreement for their membership. I applaud them for their work and look forward to their continued efforts to improve working conditions for their members in the future.”

“From the onset, the company demanded significant concessions from the union,” added President of Unifor Local 101 Rick Raso. “While successfully fighting back concessions we are also able to secure the doubling of the shift premium. This is a significant victory. This type of increase has not occurred in decades.”

“This negotiated agreement is the result of hard work by all involved,” said CP President and CEO Keith Creel. “We thank Unifor for working collaboratively with us throughout this process. Ratifying this agreement is a positive step for our mechanical employees and another example of CP’s willingness to negotiate in good faith with our union partners.”

According to CP, the railroad has successfully negotiated three tentative collective agreements with its unions in 2023, including this one with Unifor, which was announced in January and ratified this month.