(The following story by Chris Sorensen appeared on The Star website on May 15.)
TORONTO — Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. is bracing for a possible strike by 3,200 track maintenance workers that’s set to begin tonight, but analysts don’t appear too concerned about the potential impact of a walkout.
Unlike a February strike by conductors and yard employees at Canadian National Railway Co. that slowed shipments of everything from grain to automobiles, industry observers noted that the CP workers in question are not directly involved in the operation of trains.
“Given the non-operations nature of the employee group, we would not anticipate a material impact from the work action,” said David Newman, an analyst at National Bank Financial in a note to clients yesterday.
He further noted that only about 2,300 of the affected workers are on active duty, with only 1,200 directly involved in track maintenance. The remainder are employed to work on various capital projects – several of which are not yet underway.
However, Newman said an extended walkout could have a cumulative impact, delaying important projects and compromising the safety of the network.
CP, based in Calgary, said it has trained 1,300 managers to fill in for striking workers in case an agreement can’t be reached before 11:59 p.m. Calgary time. The union issued a 72-hour strike notice on Sunday. It has been without a contract since Dec. 31.
“Through a system-wide contingency plan, our company has taken the steps necessary to maintain our tracks for the duration of this job action,” said Brock Winter, CP’s senior vice-president, in a statement that was issued over the weekend.
John Chu, an analyst at Research Capital, told clients yesterday that CP “appears fully equipped” to deal with a strike and should be able to keep its trains rolling on its main lines.
Union leaders, on the other hand, said service disruptions are inevitable.
“Do you really think train tracks aren’t important for a railroad?” said William Brehl, the president of the Maintenance of Way Employees division of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents the affected workers.
Union officials have previously noted that CN offered similar assurances before conductors walked off the job in February. The resulting two-week strike drew howls of protest from industry groups representing companies in the automotive, agriculture and chemical sectors.
In the end, the strike cost CN Railway $60 million and prompted the federal government to table back-to-work legislation.
After briefly returning to their jobs, the CN workers launched rotating strikes in March amid union infighting, but were ultimately ordered back to work by Ottawa.
Talks between CP and the union representing the track maintenance workers broke down last month. CP said it has offered the union pay increases of 10 per cent over three years, but that the union is asking for a 13 per cent increase over the same period. The railway added that its offer is “consistent” with offers to other employee groups.
National Bank’s Newman said he expected a quick resolution to any strike given that the two sides have been diligently bargaining for several months and do not appear to be far apart in terms of demands.
But the union’s Brehl said it’s not just a disagreement over wages that are keeping the two sides apart.
He said the union also has concerns about working conditions as well as employee health and safety issues.