The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference today (Aug. 18) served a 72-hour strike notice to Canadian Pacific Kansas City, saying the union will walk out at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, barring a last-minute labor agreement.
Canadian National Railway, meanwhile, announced it had delivered a formal 72-hour lockout notice, following up on plans it had announced on Aug. 9 [see “Canadian rail strike could begin …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 9, 2024]. CPKC had also said it would institute a lockout on Aug. 22.
The 72-hour notifications are required under Canadian law.
Strike notice at CPKC
The TCRC said it was issuing the strike notice after CPKC served notice it would lock out union members and change the terms of the collective agreements.
“We do not take this decision lightly, but CPKC’s reckless actions have forced our hand,” TCRC President Paul Boucher said in a statement. “By unilaterally locking out our members and changing the terms of the collective agreements, they are stripping our members of essential protections. We’re serving strike notice to defend the rights and safety of our members.”
The union said the unilateral changing or cancelling of an expired agreement is “a lesser-known tactic that can force workers to strike while allowing a company to avoid blame for the resulting disruptions.”
The union contends CPKC is seeking contract concessions that would make it harder for employees to predict when they would be called to work, “creating a fatigue-related safety risk;” that the railroad is attempting to undermine provisions of the Canada Labour Code, and seeks to change work rules relating to workers being held away from home.
CPKC, in a statement late this evening, said Boucher “is grossly misrepresenting the truth. The only contract we are negotiating at this time is a status quo agreement. No work rule changes with fair wage increases. It is very disappointing at this critical time the TCRC leadership insists on embellishing the truth rather than negotiate in good faith.”
In its most recent labor update on Aug. 16, the railroad said its current offer “fully complies with new regulatory requirements for rest and does not in any way compromise safety.” It also said that offer includes “competitive wage increases that are consistent with recent settlements with other railway unions.”
The TCRC, which also represents CPKC’s rail traffic controllers, says it has made “numerous proposals to address issues identified by the company” while CPKC has not made a single counteroffer or revised its original demands. CPKC says its offer to traffic controllers “would deliver competitive wage increases.”
A strike by CPKC controllers will also affect commuter rail operations in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, which rely on CPKC dispatching.
Lockout notification by CN
CN said it its formal lockout notice is also effective at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 22. A railroad press release said the move came after “no meaningful progress” occurred in weekend negotiations, and that “the parties remain very far apart.” The railroad said it would continue its phased and progressive shutdown of its network, and will issue additional embargoes on Monday, Aug. 19.
The railroad said the TCRC turned down offers made in January, April, and May. The first two were under what the railroad called a “modernized agreement” — meaning a focus on hourly pay, rather than the current structure — while the May offer was within the framework of the existing collective bargaining agreement. The railroad said that offer included improved wages and predictable days off. The railroad also sought binding arbitration to settle the contract. That was turned down by the union and by Canadian Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon when the railroad asked him to impose arbritration [see “Canada’s labor minister won’t send CN-union contract talks to binding arbitration,” News Wire, Aug. 15, 2024].
Boucher, the TCRC president, responded to the notification by saying the railroad “is demanding concessions that would drag working conditions back to another era.” The union claimed the company is demanding to extend work days in provinces west of Ontario, “creating a fatigue-related safety risk,” and wants to impose a forced-relocation policy.
“The biggest sticking points are company demands, not union proposals,” Boucher said. “If a work stoppage occurs, blame will rest squarely on CN.”
— Updated at 9:23 p.m. CT with CPKC statement responding to TCRC claim of work-rule changes.
