Teamsters Canada has warned that workers at CN and CP are planning to strike as the talks between railroad companies and their union is stalled.
Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), the union representing 9,300 workers at both CN and CP announced in a news release.
“Canadian railroads don’t care about supply chains, farmers, or small businesses. They care about their bottom line, and squeezing everything they can out of their employees. If they need to manufacture a work stoppage to get there, they won’t think twice,” said the national president of Teamsters Canada, François Laporte.
Railroaders are on-call workers with highly irregular schedules, making it difficult to rest appropriately between shifts. The current collective agreements provide rest provisions that work in conjunction with the existing regulatory framework, allowing workers to better manage their fatigue.
Both CN and CPKC filed a notice of dispute with the Government of Canada on Friday, effectively putting negotiations on hold until government mediators can be appointed.
The notice of dispute also starts the legal process towards a possible strike or lockout. Under the Canada Labour Code, a work stoppage could occur as soon as 81 days after government mediators are appointed, potentially leading to a dispute as early as May, the report added.
