Teamsters end strike against CP railroad

Union representing engineers, conductors agrees to arbitration.    Canadian Pacific and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) on Monday agreed to enter into binding arbitration, putting an end to a two-day strike that CP’s locomotive engineers and conductors began early Sunday morning.
   The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Labor Minister Kellie Leitch as stating the government is “withdrawing its back-to-work legislation now that Canadian Pacific Railway and the Teamsters union have agreed to arbitration.”
   “This decision ensures both sides will get back to the table, and gets us back to moving Canada’s economy forward,” said E. Hunter Harrison, CP’s chief executive officer, in a statement. “While we would have preferred a negotiated settlement, this is the right thing to do at this time.”
   He said an arbitrator will be appointed by the federal government.
   The  Canadian Pacific railroad was struck by a Teamsters affiliate that represents about 3,000 locomotive engineers and conductors after contract negotiations broke off Saturday without an agreement.
   The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Running Trades struck on Sunday at 12:01 a.m.
   CP said during the negotiations it “proposed thoughtful, compelling and fair options including wage increases and improved benefit plans. Furthermore, CP proposed changes to work schedules to improve the quality of life for engineers and conductors.
   CP said that the TCRC leadership claimed that lack of time off was at the heart of its reluctance to negotiate.
   “Yet 72 percent of all engineers and conductors do not take the time off they are entitled to,” the railroad added. “Furthermore, 60 percent of the conductors and engineers at CP make between $80,000 and $160,000, while working an average of 31 to 35 hours a week.”
   E. Hunter Harrison, CP’s chief executive officer, said “Our conductors and engineers have plenty of options for time off, but the vast majority don’t take full advantage of those opportunities. We want to implement a model that allows us to properly schedule crews while maintaining the highest standards of safe railroading.”
   CP said while it “would have preferred a negotiated settlement, at the urging of the Minister of Labor, the railroad agreed to immediate mediation and arbitration to avoid a work disruption.”
   On Saturday, CP said it reached a tentative four-year agreement with the Unifor, the union representing the railroad’s 1,200 mechanical employees that maintain railcars and locomotives.
   Details of this agreement are being withheld pending ratification by the Unifor membership.