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MONTREAL — The country’s two main railways remain at loggerheads with their workers 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 workers, lending new weight to the threat of a work stoppage that could snarl supply chains countrywide.
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The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents some 9,300 workers, says CPKC wants to “gut the collective agreement of all safety-critical fatigue provisions.”
Meanwhile, it says CN has targeted fewer points linked to fatigue, but has also proposed what the union calls a “forced relocation scheme” that would see some employees move to far-flung locations for several months at a time to fill labour gaps.
However, CPKC says its latest contract offer is aimed to ease scheduling concerns and boost wages, while CN says one of its two proposals would ensure predictable schedules with planned consecutive days off and better compensation. Both note their offers comply with recently tightened safety regulations.
In a ruling last Friday, the national labour tribunal ordered a 13-day cooling-off period as part of a pair of decisions that deemed rail services non-essential, opening the door to a full-fledged work stoppage as early as next week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:CNR, TSX:CP)
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