CP Rail, Teamsters agree to continue talks, keep trains running
Officials from the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have agreed to keep CP Rail trains operating at least through Dec. 8 while the two parties continue contract negotiations.
The two sides signed a tentative five-year agreement for more than 4,500 locomotive engineers and conductors in September, but union members failed to ratify the settlement by a slim 51-vote margin on Nov. 16. Following the vote, the union said that workers wanted the union to negotiate better terms. CP Rail, Canada's second-largest railroad, and the TCRC have been at the bargaining table since, trying to hammer out a deal amenable to both sides.
On Monday, CP Rail and the TCRC extended a no strike/no lockout agreement until Dec. 8 while negotiations continue. The two parties also agreed to continue meeting in an effort to negotiate a new version of the contract.
During the summer, negotiators from CP Rail and the TCRC agreed on a three-year contract for about 3,200 railroad maintenance workers, ending a 26-day strike that snarled Canadian intermodal traffic. The May-June walkout by rail workers came just a month after a weeklong April lockout by CP Rail of 2,800 striking yardmen and conductors was ended by action of the Canadian federal government.