By Charles Lefebvre

Strike deadline looms for Canadian Pacific

Apr 20, 2018 | 4:33 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Unless a last-minute deal is made, Canadian Pacific Railway workers will be on the picket lines this weekend.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Train & Engine (TCRC) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers issued a 72-hour strike notice to Canadian Pacific on Wednesday, saying they will walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time (10:01 p.m. Mountain standard Time) if an agreement cannot be reached.

The Teamsters represent more than 3,000 CP workers across Canada, including conductors, engineers and rail yard workers, while the IBEW represents more than 300 signal and communication workers in the company.

In Medicine Hat, approximately 300 rail workers would be on strike.

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Worker fatigue and alleged bullying from management are among the main issues at the bargaining table.

Christopher Monette, director of public affairs for Teamsters Canada, says the two sides remain far apart on negotiations as of Friday afternoon.

“Unfortunately, we have very little progress to report at the bargaining table, no progress at all to report, ” he said over the phone from Calgary. “The Teamsters continue to negotiate in good faith with Canadian Pacific in hopes of reaching a negotiated settlement and to avoid a service disruption, but at the moment, the company is bargaining in a way that has left us no choice but to maintain the strike deadline.”

Negotiations have been ongoing for several months, and federal mediators were brought in to assist in January.

CHAT News Today reached out to Canadian Pacific for a phone interview on Friday, but calls were not returned. The company instead referred CHAT News Today to its news release it posted on Wednesday, where they say both sides continue to reach a settlement.

“Serving a strike notice is part of the bargaining process that unions must follow if they want to be able to strike,” said Keith Creel, CP President and CEO. “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.”