All Posts from May 30, 2018

CP Rail Reaches Tentative Agreement with Union; Strike to End Thursday Morning

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. announced on May 30 that it has reached a tentative deal with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), the union representing more than 3,000 striking conductors and locomotive engineers. TCRC workers, who represent about a quarter of CP’s work force, walked off the job at 10 p.m. eastern time on May 29, but were preparing to return to work by 6 a.m. on May 31.

CP announced that it had struck a four-year tentative agreement with CP conductors and locomotive engineers, and a five-year agreement with Kootenay Valley Railway conductors and engineers. The railroad on May 29 reached a three-year deal with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), another union that was threatening a walkout.

Details of the agreements are being withheld pending ratification by union members, which will take place over the coming months. Long hours, worker fatigue, and cuts that CP allegedly made to increase profitability were reportedly on the list of union grievances as they renegotiated contracts with the railroad.

The short duration of the strike was good news for industries that were bracing for additional shipping disruptions after months of poor rail service. Fertilizer Canada on May 30 issued a statement urging the Canadian government to take decisive action to end the strike if negotiations between the union and CP remained at a stalemate.

“As the Canadian fertilizer industry exports to more than 75 countries, our members rely on an efficient transportation system in order to remain globally competitive,” said Garth Whyte, president and CEO of Fertilizer Canada. “We strongly urge the government to take whatever action is necessary to ensure minimal damage is done to the Canadian economy and especially Canadian trade industries.”

CP Workers Strike

More than 3,000 Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. workers walked off the job Tuesday night, according to Bloomberg. The strike by conductors and locomotive engineers began at 10 p.m. eastern time, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said in an emailed statement late Tuesday. Negotiations with the company are ongoing, Teamsters said minutes after Canadian Pacific reached a tentative three-year agreement with a smaller union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

While the railroad has pledged a smooth wind down of operations, “we can’t imagine that shippers will take these assurances in stride following the subpar rail service this past winter — particularly those in the grain, oil and lumber industries,” Allison Landry, a Credit Suisse Group AG analyst said in a note to clients shortly before the stoppage. “We wouldn’t be surprised to see swift government action.”