The company and the union are pointing fingers at each other for a halt to Canadian Pacific Railway operations that began on Sunday while the two sides remained at the negotiating table.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents some 3,000 engineers, executives, courtiers and other train workers, issued a statement just before midnight, saying a management blockade on the Calgary-based railroad had been initiated.
But hours later, the company released a statement saying that while the company was still engaged in contract talks facilitated by federal mediators, the TCRC “withdrew its services and released a news item showing the status of the talks. misrepresented. ” It added that CP is working with its clients to complete its operations in Canada.
The union then released a later release saying that in addition to the blockade, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference members were also on strike across the country with picketing in various Canadian Pacific locations.
The office of Federal Labor Secretary Seamus O’Regan said in a statement that while the work stoppage began, both parties were still at the negotiating table with mediators and expected “the parties to continue working until they reach an agreement.” The more than two dozen exceptional issues in the dispute include wages, benefits and pensions.
Update: Work stoppage has begun, but CP and teamsters are still at the table with federal mediators. Parties work through the night. We are closely monitoring the situation and expect the parties to continue working until they reach an agreement.
& mdash;@SeamusORegan
Last week, about 45 industry groups warned that any disruption to the railway service would hamper Canada’s cargo capacity and harm the wider economy as it struggled with inflation, product shortages, rising fuel costs and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
CP Rail had issued a 72-hour notice to the TCRC of its plan to implement a blockade on Sunday if the union and the company failed to reach a negotiated settlement or agree to a binding arbitration.
The union said in a statement that it would continue to negotiate, but “unfortunately, the employer has chosen to endanger the Canadian supply chain and tens of thousands of jobs.”
TCRC spokesman Dave Fulton called the turn of events “disappointing” and said the railway had to be “taken on board” for that decision.
He said the union was willing to investigate a referee’s decision but could not reach an agreement with the employer.
“They set the deadline for a blockade to happen tonight if we were willing to continue negotiations,” he said. “Even more, they then moved the goal when it was time to discuss the terms of the final and binding arbitration.”
The CP, for its part, called on the union to stop.
“This is clearly a failure of the TCRC’s negotiating committee’s responsibility to negotiate in good faith,” it said in its statement.
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