Rail strike looms for Canada, but why hasn’t a deal been reached?
The country’s two main railways and their workers remain at loggerheads over scheduling, safety or salaries — depending on who you ask — as the clock ticks down on contract negotiations.
On Friday, Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. warned they will lock out employees on Aug. 22 unless they can reach deals with their employees, lending new weight to the threat of a work stoppage that could snarl supply chains countrywide.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents some 9,300 engineers, conductors, yard workers and rail traffic controllers, claimed that CPKC wants to “gut the collective agreement of all safety-critical fatigue provisions.”
CN has targeted fewer points linked to fatigue, the Teamsters said, but has also proposed what the union called a “forced relocation scheme” that would see some employees move to far-flung locations for several months at a time to fill labour gaps.
“From the very beginning, railworkers have only ever sought a fair and equitable agreement. Unfortunately, both rail companies are demanding concessions that could tear families apart or jeopardize rail safety,” said Teamsters president Paul Boucher in a statement Friday.
The railways have put forward two different sets of offers each, stating that they all comply with safety rules — a point the union has not denied.
One CN proposal would see employees on a scheduled 40-hour work week, with at least 10 or 12 hours of rest between shifts — depending on whether they’re at home or away — and either two or three consecutive days off each week, in compliance with the law.
The scheduled approach to shifts — a comparable offer was tabled by CPKC before being withdrawn “conditionally” on Friday —
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