(Source: Teamsters Canada Rail Conference press release, July 20, 2018)
LAVAL, Que. — Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) at Canadian Pacific (CP) voted 64.7% to ratify a four-year agreement covering over 3,000 conductors and locomotive engineers. Approximately 25 workers of the Kootenay Valley Railway (KVR) also ratified a five-year agreement by 91.7%.
This comes after a short strike by CP train crews in May. Union officials are now focused on implementing the new collective agreement and moving forward with the company.
“Our members demonstrated incredible solidarity during the negotiations and the strike,” said Doug Finnson, President of the TCRC. “Workers won a fair deal from CP. Moving forward, we hope to continue working with the company to improve job conditions and ease labor relations.
Fatigue was one of the major issues behind the recent strike. Under the new collective agreement, workers will be able to book 48-hour rest periods three times a month instead of only twice. There was also improved rest provisions for yard employees in the agreement.
The new contract also addressed other equity issues, improvements to work rules, benefits and provides a 9% increase over the term of the agreement. Both the main agreement and the KVR agreement expire on December 31, 2021.
Teamsters would like to once again thank the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and Labour Minister Patty Hajdu for helping parties find common ground, as well as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for standing up for workers’ right to negotiate.