(The following story by Lacey Sheppy appeared on The Moose Jaw Times Herald website on May 18.)
MOOSE JAW — Canadian Pacific Railway employees in Moose Jaw are hoping for a swift end to a strike that saw 100 local workers walk off the job Wednesday morning.
The workers, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference maintenance-of-ways employee division, are responsible for maintaining and inspecting tracks and bridges in the city and area.
Most have been with the company for over 20 years, but do not have a strike fund and are relying on savings and lines of credit to see them through the duration of the strike.
“A lot of employees feel a bit let down,” said Don Lesuk, strike captain for the local union. “The wages we’re asking for are not that far out of what the average wage increase in Canada has been lately.”
The union, which has been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2006, is asking for a 12 per cent wage increase over the next three years.
This would amount to an extra $1,600 per year based on the average salary of $40,000 for Moose Jaw workers.
CPR is willing to grant employees a 10 per cent raise over three years — about $900 a year — the same amount it has negotiated recently with other unions.
“Our offer is very lucrative,” said Mark Seland, director of media relations for CPR. “It exceeds inflation and it exceeds the national industrial settlement average of 2.5 per cent a year.”
Talks broke off in April when neither side would budge and 3,200 teamsters took to picket lines across Canada shortly after midnight Tuesday.
Another bone of contention locally surrounds proposed changes to work rules.
Currently, some Moose Jaw employees travel up to two hours each way per shift before starting work, depending on where they are needed.
CPR wants to increase that time to five hours each way, but local teamsters say that’s cutting too far into family life.
“That’s up to 10 hours a week of their own time,” said Lesuk. “They don’t get paid for that. It’s a quality-of-life issue.”
Although hopeful the strike will end quickly, Lesuk doesn’t expect to be back on the job until the government legislates employees back to work.