A Canadian arbitrator appointed to resolve the contract dispute between members of Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and CPKC rendered his decision on May 30. The imposed contract provides 3% general wage increases annually for 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027.
In August 2024, CPKC locked out employees represented by TCRC, which led to the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) implementing a back-to-work order and imposing binding arbitration to settle the contract. At the time, TCRC President Paul Boucher strongly condemned the action, saying: “This decision by the CIRB sets a dangerous precedent. It signals to corporate Canada that large companies need only stop their operations for a few hours, inflict short-term economic pain, and the federal government will step in to break a union.”
A press release on the TCRC website reads in part: “As you know, despite our best efforts at the bargaining table, the TCRC and CPKC were ultimately unable to reach a renewed Collective Agreement through bargaining and mediation. The railway’s collusion and government overreach made that impossible and forced us into a dictated Collective Agreement. For clarity, this process was not one the TCRC sought when entering negotiations. Our preference has always been to reach a freely negotiated settlement at the bargaining table.”
The TCRC-T&E represents 3,200 locomotive engineers, conductors, train and yard workers across Canada; the TCRC-RCTC represents 80 traffic controllers in Canada.