(The Western Producer posted the following article by Adrian Ewins to its website on June 19.)
SASKATOON, Sask. — A possible strike of rail traffic controllers shouldn’t affect shipments of grain or other farm commodities, says an official with Canadian Pacific Railway.
About 200 members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Rail Canada Traffic Controllers were in a legal position to walk off the job June 18.
While the union says a strike or lockout could shut down rail service across the country, the railway insists that won’t be the case.
“If we do come to a point where we are facing a labour action, we expect to operate business as usual,” said CP spokesperson Darcie Park.
“There will be no impact on safety or service and we’ll continue to meet our commitments to our customers.”
She said the company has been involved in contingency planning and managers have been training to take over duties performed by union members.
Most of the traffic controllers operate out of CP’s offices in Calgary, where they monitor and control the movement of train operations over specific parts of the company’s rail network.
Negotiations between the two sides began Sept. 1, 2002. The federal government appointed a conciliator in March 2003 but the 60-day conciliation period ended without an agreement.
That was followed by a “cooling off period,” which expires June 18.
The issues in dispute include work rules, job relocation, benefits and the union’s request for wage parity with controllers at Canadian National Railway.