CP Rail strike postponed as unions ordered to put offer to member vote

With a decision looming Friday night for rail workers about whether to go on strike, the two unions involved in the dispute have decided to postpone job action for now. 

Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers will vote on Canadian Pacific's final offer, after an order from the minister of labour to put the offer to a membership vote.

"CP succeeded in delaying the inevitable," Teamsters Canada president Doug Finnson said in a statement. "The government will bring this ridiculous offer to our members and we strongly recommend that members vote against it. I would like to reassure our members that we have given nothing up."

The Teamsters and the IBEW will postpone a strike until after the vote, but Finnson said CP has exhausted all of its possibilities, and will have to eventually face its workers.  

Premier concerned about grain deliveries

Earlier this week, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe issued a letter to the federal government, requesting it to pass back-to-work legislation if workers do walk out.

"Such action is necessary to ensure that our agricultural industry is not adversely affected by work stoppages," Moe wrote in a letter to Minister of Transport Canada Marc Garneau.

He noted rail disputes could hold up grain deliveries, after what has already been a season plagued by backlogs.

"These work stoppages will also endanger Saskatchewan's reputation as a reliable supplier of grains and oilseeds," he wrote to Garneau.

On Wednesday, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents over 3,000 CP Rail conductors and engineers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, with about 365 signal and communications workers, gave the railroad 72-hour notice of strike action, with a deadline on Friday at midnight.

Finnson described CP as victims "of their own aggressive behaviour," with the union charging that Teamsters had filed thousands of contract violations grievances and multiple unfair labour practice complaints against its employer.

CP warns of disruption 

CP had said it was preparing with its customers for a possible strike by executing a "safe and structured shutdown of its train operations in Canada" to take effect as of midnight on Friday.

In a post on its website on Friday, CEO Bob Masterson of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada said a disruption will interrupt about $20 million worth of daily shipments by his member companies.

He added that switching cargo to Canada's other major railroad, Canadian National Railway Ltd., wasn't an option even if access to CN lines are possible because his members have been "told clearly that CN's network is not in a position to take on extra capacity."

CN spokesman Patrick Waldron said the railway, which was criticized for failing to meet service demand over the winter, is closely watching the ongoing situation at CP Rail.

"Our first priority is to protect service levels with our existing, valued CN customers and to ensure the fluidity of our network."