Calgary Alberta - Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) and two of its unions, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), are currently working through the collective bargaining process.
 
Despite CP's best efforts, a significant gap remains between the company and these two unions.
 
In the event an agreement cannot be reached, a work stoppage could occur as early as 00:01 on Saturday, 21 Apr 2018.
 
"We have been working hard with both unions for months, and continue to meet in order to negotiate an agreement that balances the needs of these two unions with the needs of our entire workforce, our customers, and our shareholders," said Keith Creel, CP President and CEO.
 
"I made labour outreach my top priority when I became CEO and I continue to focus my efforts on this key area."
 
CP has reached long-term agreements with other Canadian unions, including three that were successfully negotiated in 2017, all with the objective of ensuring continuity of reliable and cost-effective rail service, while being fair and equitable to CP's employees.
 
Specifically, CP adopted a "pattern" framework to address issues tabled at bargaining and have successfully reached agreement through to 2022 with, TCRC Maintenance of Way, United Steel Workers, and CP Police Association.
 
A work stoppage involving the TCRC and the IBEW will severely impact CP's ability to continue to provide safe and efficient freight and passenger/commuter service.
 
All customers and commodities would be impacted at a time when demand is soaring.
 
"We have connected with our freight customers and with the CEOs of the passenger rail services that run on our line advising them of the potential impacts," Creel said.
 
"We understand the impact this would have on commuters using the West Coast Express (WCE) on the Lower Mainland, Reseau de Transport Metropolitain (RTM) in Montreal, and Metrolinx in the Toronto-area.
 
In an attempt to avoid this inconvenience and the significant disruption to the travelling public, CP reached out to the IBEW today to request that they allow their members to continue to serve the railway lines on which passenger rail service are hosted, unfortunately, it was a request they denied."
 
CP and the TCRC leadership successfully negotiated a one-year extension of the Collective Agreement in September 2017, unfortunately that agreement was not ratified by the membership.
 
Despite CP's best efforts to achieve an agreement with the TCRC, the union still has essentially 108 outstanding demands to our five, equivalent to more than a quarter billion dollars over three years, or an average increase of 24 percent a year over the three years to the TCRC payroll cost.
 
CP's five items relate to providing consistent customer service and achieving schedule predictability for the betterment of the Canadian economy and transportation supply chain reliability.
 
There are approximately 3,000 conductors and engineers represented by the TCRC.
 
Approximately 360 Signal Maintainers are represented by the IBEW.
 
These employees protect the integrity of the railway signal system in addition to maintaining protection devices at crossings.
 
Despite CP's best efforts, the IBEW still has 85 outstanding issues to our four, equivalent to an additional $27 million over three years, or an average increase of 25 percent a year over the three years.
 
CP's four items reflect collaboration, mutual benefit, safety, efficiency, and quality of life.
 
"We continue to meet and remain hopeful that fair agreements can still be reached with both sides, agreements that identify win-win solutions based on common ground," Creel said.
 
"People and safety are part of CP's core foundations and we are committed to safe operations and a well-rested workforce is an important part of that.
 
We are more than open to considering scheduling and time off options with the TCRC, and have even proposed pilot projects to do that.
 
However, any proposed changes need to work in concert with our commitment to our 12,000 strong CP family, customers, shareholders, and the overall economy."
 
During Conciliation in March, and after both unions rejected all company offers, both unions stated that all of their demands must be addressed.
 
The company provided the TCRC and IBEW with a written proposal to enter into Voluntary Mediation/Arbitration, to avoid a work stoppage and avoid damages to our customers, the Canadian economy, Canadian commuters, and the broader CP family, an offer both unions declined.
 
Meetings with the TCRC and the IBEW are planned for next week and CP will continue to bargain in good faith.
 
Author unknown.