Worker unions encourage members to reject CP’s final offer
By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) have postponed a strike until their members review CP Rail’s final offer.
Patricia Hajdu, the federal minister of labour, has agreed to CP’s request to order a vote on the company’s final offer to renew its collective agreements with the TCRC and IBEW, a Teamsters Canada release said on Friday.
Both unions urge their members to refuse the offer. If rejected, the unions can strike.
“CP succeeded in delaying the inevitable,” Doug Finnson, TCRC president, said in the release.
“The government will bring this ridiculous offer to our members and we strongly recommend that members vote against it.”
The offer’s specific details are not publicly available until workers have reviewed them, the release said.
Teamster members have filed thousands of grievances against CP over the past few years.
“Cuts, punitive discipline, and adversarial labour relation strategies have led to over 8,000 grievances filed against CP by Teamster members … and only 3,000 workers are covered by the collective agreement,” Christopher Monette, the director of public affairs, said to Farms.com today.
And negotiations have barely progressed since talks started in November, he added.
The Canada Industrial Relations Board will conduct an electronic vote on CP’s offer. As of this morning, no date was set, the release said.
Some 3,000 conductors and locomotives voted, on April 6, 94.2 per cent in favour of a strike and the 360 members of the IBEW voted 98.3 per cent in favour on April 12.
“A strike would bring CP trains to a grinding halt and I’m sure everybody in the agricultural industry knows what the consequences of (a strike) would look like,” Monette said.
“That’s why we want CP to get serious about negotiating with the Teamsters. CP’s attitude at the bargaining table has led to a situation where finding common ground is impossible and strike action is practically inevitable.”
Teamsters represents nearly 125,000 workers across Canada, 10,000 of which work in the rail sector.
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