CP Rail Workers Walk Off The Job
Posted May 16, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s the second major rail workers strike this year – and there’s no sign of when it may end. Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway track and bridge maintenance employees began their labour action as of 12:01am Wednesday. About 1,200 of CP Rail’s 3,200 unionized employees are affected.
Picket lines began going up across the country Wednesday morning, and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union leader William Brehl said it’s up to the company whether the eventual contract agreement comes easily or not. “We’re willing to talk to the company if they’re willing to talk to us productively, but they’ve basically said to us, ‘No, we’re deadlocked. We’re not going back to the table,”‘ Brehl said.
Wages are one of the key issues – the Teamsters want to see a 13 per cent increase over three years, while the company says that’s not in keeping with what other unions at the rail company have received, namely 10 per cent over three years. Talks broke off on Saturday and the union subsequently gave its strike notice.
CP spokesperson Mark Seland said managers will fill in to replace the striking workers and said he hoped it wouldn’t affect the business. “We expect our railway to run normally,” he maintained.
In February, Canadian National Railway employees went on a two-week strike – a walkout that resulted in the disruption of $1 billion in shipments of grain, auto parts and other commodities. That strike’s effects were felt in this province, as it led to a gas shortage at the pumps following a major fire at the Imperial Oil Nanticoke refinery. A federally appointed mediator is reviewing both offers in that conflict and will select one to be the binding agreement by July.
