The union representing more than 9,000 railway workers in CN and CPKC is organizing a vote to authorize strike action, and if some agreement is not reached by then, the railways will be closed as early as late May. There is a growing possibility that construction will be halted.
Members of the Teamsters Canadian Railway Conference (TCRC) will begin voting electronically on April 8 on whether to give their representatives the option to proceed with a strike.
The negotiations and strike vote revolve around three collective bargaining agreements that expired on December 31, 2023, and affect the following railroad workers:
- CN’s approximately 6,000 conductors, engineers, and shipyard workers
- CPKC has nearly 3,200 conductors, engineers, and shipyard workers.
- CPKC has approximately 80 to 90 rail traffic controllers.
Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan will appoint a federal mediator for each of the three agreements on March 1, at the request of both CN and CPKC, and set a 60-day deadline to resolve labor disputes through mediation. A motion was filed.
Representatives from the railways and unions met with the mediator by March 26.
The 60-day period can be extended if both sides request and agree to an extension, but if no agreement is reached, a 21-day “cooling-off” period is required before a strike or lockout can take place. The deadline is May 22nd. On that first day, workers could go on strike or be locked out by their employers.
At least four consecutive labor negotiations between CPKC (then CP Railway) and TCRC resulted in work stoppages in 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2022. After going on an eight-day strike in 2019, CN’s TCRC members agreed to a three-day collective bargaining agreement. The one-year contract expires in mid-2022. The collective agreement with CN, which expired on December 31, was only ratified last May.
Under Canadian labor law, expired agreements remain in place until a new agreement is signed.
