Some 750 signals and communications workers at the railway had voted to strike as early as today if a deal was not reached.

No details of the agreement were released.

CN has been in talks with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union since September.

In 2022, IBEW workers walked off the job for 17 days. The strike concluded when the union and CN agreed to take the dispute to binding arbitration. That strike did not directly affect rail traffic.

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“CN’s contingency plans are in place, operations will continue, and our dedicated teams are prepared to ensure the seamless continuity of service,” the railway said on its website.

CN has been in talks with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union since September. According to the railway, the union, which represents 750 workers, rejected a recent offer and issued a strike notice. A work stoppage could begin just after midnight on January 28.

In 2022, IBEW workers walked off the job for 17 days. The strike concluded when the union and CN agreed to take the dispute to binding arbitration. That strike did not directly affect rail traffic.

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The 750-odd workers, represented by International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council 11, had agreed to take their dispute with CN to arbitration in early July, ending a 17-day strike.

CN on Oct. 11 said arbitration has concluded in a three-year collective agreement with IBEW, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022 through to Dec. 31, 2024.

The agreement includes a three per cent wage increase for each of 2022, 2023 and 2024, Montreal-based CN said in a release.

IBEW members at CN install and maintain signals and trackside equipment, including the warning systems at railroad-highway crossings.

Unlike some other railway labour disputes in recent years — such as the eight-day strike by CN’s Teamster-led conductors and railyard workers in 2019 — the IBEW strike did not directly affect rail traffic, as CN had an “operational contingency plan” in place while unionized signals staff were off the job.

CN’s chief operating officer Rob Reilly, in the company’s release, said it’s “satisfied to have concluded this arbitration” and will “continue to focus on implementing a back-to-basics approach by running a scheduled operation, aligning capacity with demand.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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CN, in a statement Monday, said the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council 11, which represents about 750 of the company’s employees across the country, had agreed to take its labour dispute to binding arbitration.

The strike is to end just after midnight ET Tuesday, and affected employees are to return to their jobs starting at 7 a.m. ET Wednesday, CN said.

Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, in a tweet Monday afternoon, thanked federal mediators for helping the company and union reach an agreement to end the strike.

CN, in Monday’s statement, also thanked “management employees and contractors” for working to allow railway operations to “continue uninterrupted” over the past two and a half weeks.

As of Monday afternoon the IBEW hasn’t yet made a statement about the strike ending, but said June 29 its members had been “substituted by replacement (scab) [sic] workers from both Canada and the U.S.”

That move “should concern everyone in our country, as it opens the door for unqualified people operating and maintaining our rail safety across Canada,” IBEW International vice-president Russ Shewchuk said in a June 29 statement.

IBEW members at CN install and maintain signals and trackside equipment, including the warning systems at railroad-highway crossings.

Shewchuk had called CN’s use of substitute workers “another prime example of the importance of federal anti-scab legislation (which would) prevent the employer from using replacement, and likely unqualified, workers.”

After IBEW members went on strike June 18, CN said its “operational contingency plan… allows the company to maintain a normal level of safe rail operations across Canada and serve its customers for as long as required.” The company had also said at the time it was open to binding arbitration if need be.

The most recent strike to halt CN rail service took place in 2019, when the company’s Teamster-led conductors and yard workers went on strike for eight days.

The IBEW’s previous five-year agreement with CN expired at the end of 2021.

After the two sides went to bargaining last fall, the railway “refused the union’s request for a fair and reasonable wage increase over a span of three years,” IBEW System Council 11 chairman Steve Martin said in a statement June 18.

Meanwhile, he said, the IBEW was “compromising on many union issues, and even acquiescing to company demands to increase the amount of interprovincial travel and the time a member spends away from their home and family.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which represents about 750 CN employees across Canada, served the railway with strike notice last Wednesday and started their strike Saturday morning, the company said.

IBEW members at CN install and maintain signals and trackside equipment, including the warning systems at railroad-highway crossings.

CN said Monday its “operational contingency plan” is now in place, which “allows the company to maintain a normal level of safe rail operations across Canada and serve its customers for as long as required.”

Talks between the company and union are still continuing, a CN spokesperson said via email Monday. An IBEW representative wasn’t available via email.

“While we are disappointed in the current situation, we remain open to resolving the outstanding issues through an agreement or through binding arbitration,” CN chief operating officer Rob Reilly said in a letter to IBEW members dated Monday.

The IBEW’s previous five-year agreement with CN, ratified by members in 2017, expired at the end of 2021. Reilly, in Monday’s letter, said CN has “met or exceeded every one of the union’s demands in an effort to reach an agreement prior to the strike deadline” but its last offer was rejected.

Reilly said CN’s last offer had called for a 10 per cent improvement in wages over three years; improved scheduling “which will ensure two consecutive days off”; and overtime procedures “now based on seniority,” among other changes involving benefits and worker expense allowances.

CN’s last service-stopping strike took place in 2019, when the company’s Teamster-led conductors and yard workers went on strike for eight days. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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CP’s 3,100-odd conductors and engineers, represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), announced July 20 they have voted to ratify a four-year agreement.

Almost 63 per cent of eligible employees cast electronic ballots in the ratification vote, which closed July 20 with 1,292 of 1,996 votes (64.7 per cent) in favour of the deal, the TCRC said in a memo to members.

Of the four-year deal, CP CEO Keith Creel said it “provides certainty and stability for not only employees at CP, but for customers, shareholders and the broader economy.”

The TCRC-led employees’ ratification follows a similar vote last month by CP signal and communication (S+C) employees.

That bargaining group includes about 360 staff represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council No. 11, who walked off the job in May along with the conductors and engineers.

Rail operations resumed May 31 after CP and union negotiators reached tentative agreements with help from federal mediators.

Grain groups hailed the CP staff’s return to work at the end of May. “With grain bins and elevators still full across the Prairies we are counting on both railways to work to full capacity to get our backlogged grain to export position,” Grain Growers of Canada president Jeff Nielsen said in a statement at the time.

A separate five-year agreement has also been ratified by conductors and engineers for CP’s Kootenay Valley Railway, CP said July 20. The KVR operates in British Columbia’s southern interior. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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CP and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council No. 11, which represents 360 CP signal maintainers, announced Friday the union’s CP members had voted 78 per cent in favour of the new deal.

“The hard work begins now, with CP’s commitment we will move forward together to implement the new provisions” of the memorandum of settlement, Council No. 11 senior chairman Steve Martin said in a CP release.

CP CEO Keith Creel on Friday hailed the new deal, saying it “reflects CP’s commitment to our IBEW-represented employees, ensures stability for the broader 12,000-strong CP family and provides certainty for our customers and the broader economy.”

The IBEW members, along with CP conductors and engineers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), had hit the picket line on the evening of May 29. Rail operations resumed May 31 after CP and union negotiators reached tentative agreements with help from federal mediators.

About 3,000 TCRC-represented CP employees are scheduled to begin electronic voting Monday (July 9) on their memorandum of settlement for a four-year agreement.

E-voting on that agreement is scheduled to close July 20, the TCRC said June 25 in a letter to members on its website.

The TCRC said its bargaining committee unanimously supports the new deal and recommends its CP members vote in favour.

Grain groups had urged the federal government to intervene in the weeks leading up to May’s strike, fearing even more disruptions to grain movement off the Prairies.

“The movement of grain is so essential to the Canadian economy that it should never be disrupted by strike action,” Alberta Barley chair Jason Lenz said in mid-April. “But unfortunately, we see labour disputes almost every year.”– AGCanada.com Network

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The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Council No. 11, which represents about 360 CP signal maintenance staff, announced a tentative three-year deal with Calgary-based CP Tuesday evening.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), whose 3,000-odd CP locomotive engineer and conductor members had hit the picket line Tuesday at 9 p.m. CT, announced a four-year deal Wednesday. Full operations are to resume at 6 a.m. “local time” on Thursday, the Teamsters said in a release.

Details of the two agreements haven’t yet been released pending ratification votes by the two unions’ members, a process the TCRC said will take place “over the coming months.”

“We believe this is a fair contract that our members can feel good about ratifying,” TCRC president Doug Finnson said in a release. “I am personally very satisfied with what we have negotiated.”

Negotiations “were difficult but in the end we have reached a good deal for our membership and we’re looking forward to building on the momentum of the last few days,” IBEW Council No. 11 senior general chairman Steve Martin said in a separate statement.

CP CEO Keith Creel on Tuesday thanked the IBEW bargaining committee for its “hard work and… creativity” and added he “look(s) forward to working with this union to become the employer of choice.”

Creel on Wednesday added it’s “especially meaningful to achieve a four-year tentative agreement with our valued locomotive engineers and conductors, providing long-term stability for all parties involved.”

The TCRC, in a release, also credited the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and federal Labour Minister Patty Hajdu for “helping parties find common ground,” and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “for standing up for workers’ right to negotiate.”

Trudeau, speaking in Toronto Tuesday, had been quoted by Canadian Press as saying Canada has “companies that have gotten used to the fact that in certain industries, the government in the past was very quick to legislate against unions… We are not going to do that.”

“Previous governments were all too eager to threaten back-to-work legislation, acting quickly on behalf of employers against workers and their unions,” TCRC’s Finnson said Wednesday. “We thank the government for proving that collective bargaining can work when it’s allowed to.”

IBEW’s Martin on Tuesday also hailed Hajdu and FMCS mediator Peter Simpson “for coming to Calgary and working with all sides in order to find a fair deal.”

Hajdu, in a separate statement Wednesday, described the tentative deals as “further evidence that when employers, organized labour and governments work together and respect the collective bargaining process, we get the best results for Canadians and for our economy.”

Grain Growers of Canada, among other groups representing CP customers in agriculture and various industries, had warned earlier Wednesday that a strike could be “potentially disastrous” for the sector and urged Trudeau and Hajdu to legislate the Teamsters back to work.

In a separate statement later Wednesday, GGC president Jeff Nielsen credited both Trudeau and Hajdu “for their leadership in encouraging the two sides to reach the negotiated outcome that ended the work stoppage.

“With grain bins and elevators still full across the Prairies we are counting on both railways to work to full capacity to get our backlogged grain to export position,” he said.

The TCRC and CP on Wednesday also announced a tentative five-year agreement which ends a concurrent strike by Teamster-led conductors and locomotive engineers with the company’s Kootenay Valley Railway (KVR) business unit in British Columbia. — AGCanada.com Network

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The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP engineers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which represents about 360 CP signal maintenance staff, both announced Saturday they have served CP with the required 72 hours’ minimum strike notice.

The notice followed Friday’s announcement that the membership of both unions voted decisively against ratifying what CP had described as its “final offers” to the two bargaining units. Mediated talks between CP and union brass have continued since then. Both unions’ memberships had voted early last month to authorize strike action if need be.

CP said in a statement Saturday it “will continue to meet with the TCRC and the IBEW in the hopes of reaching agreements that are in the best interests of the entire CP family, its customers, shareholders and the broader North American economy.”

Both unions said in a separate statement they “are willing to remain at the bargaining table until the May 29 strike deadline and beyond.”

“The meetings were not as successful as we had hoped, and there remain significant outstanding issues,” TCRC officials said in a notice to members Saturday, noting their bargaining committee had met with CP CEO Keith Creel, among other officials, “throughout the day until late (Friday) evening.”

Conductors and engineers should make “the necessary preparations to begin legal strike action” Tuesday night, the TCRC said.

“CP has continually changed directions during negotiations with little evidence that a settlement was ever possible. We have given CP every reasonable opportunity to negotiate and avoid a strike, but sadly that has led us nowhere,” Steve Martin, senior general chairman for IBEW System Council No. 11, said in the same release.

“CP is offering more of the same contract language that workers just voted to reject a few hours ago. The company clearly isn’t serious about reaching a negotiated settlement and delivering on their promise to do right by their employees,” TCRC president Doug Finnson said Saturday in a release.

A statement from federal Labour Minister Patty Hajdu wasn’t immediately available Sunday. The minister’s previous statements on the matter haven’t mentioned the option of back-to-work legislation, which was used to end the previous two strikes by CP’s conductors and engineers.

Grower groups have previously called on the government to take action to prevent such a work stoppage. Alberta’s wheat and barley commissions last month wrote Hajdu asking her to impose binding arbitration and begin the process of introducing back-to-work legislation.

“(W)ith the inability to deliver grain on global contracts that were set for delivery as far back as October, some farmers are facing severe cash flow issues as we move into the 2018 growing season,” they wrote.

Railway employees, they added, “should be prohibited from taking strike action, now or into the future.”

“Wheat growers have suffered through the abysmal rail transportation problems this past growing season and now may have to face a strike by CP Rail. This is making a bad problem even worse,” Western Canadian Wheat Growers president Levi Wood said last month, also calling for a federal back-to-work rule. — AGCanada.com Network

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The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP engineers, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which represents about 360 CP signal maintenance staff, confirmed Friday their members have voted to reject what CP described as its “final contract offers” to the two bargaining units.

Both unions agreed in late April to postpone their planned strikes and vote on CP’s offers, as per a request from federal Labour Minister Patty Hajdu, who directed the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to conduct the ratification vote.

The outcome of the votes restores a situation in which the company could call a lockout, or either of the unions could strike, on 72 hours’ notice. Both unions’ memberships voted early last month to authorize strike action if need be.

The Ag Transport Coalition, which monitors Prairie grain movement on behalf of several shipper and grower organizations, noted Friday in its weekly rail performance update that the vote raises the possibility of a work stoppage at CP as early as Monday, “on the heels of the best performance this year.”

However, CP said Friday no notice of a work stoppage has been issued; neither union said Friday it had issued strike notice, although IBEW noted its council is back in a legal position to issue such notice “at anytime.”

CP also said it “will be meeting with both unions later today to discuss next steps.”

IBEW said Friday its negotiating committee “will meet with CP today to continue bargaining,” while the Teamsters said their bargaining committee would be “ready to meet” in Calgary with CP and federal mediators at 1 p.m. Friday and on through the weekend.

According to a Teamsters memo Friday to affected employees, 2,472 participating employees voted 98.1 per cent in favour of rejecting CP’s offer. IBEW, which pegged its voter turnout at 89 per cent, reported 97.2 per cent of participating members rejected the offer. Both unions had recommended rejecting the offers.

CP said Friday it’s “disappointed with the outcome of the vote given that both final offers provided for significant improvements to wages, benefits and working conditions.”

The offers, CP said, were “consistent with agreements recently reached with other CP unions in both the United States and Canada.”

A statement was not immediately available from Hajdu’s office Friday. Her previous statements have not mentioned the option of federal back-to-work legislation.

CP’s engineers and conductors last walked off the job in February 2015, ending their strike after one day under threat of back-to-work legislation from then-labour minister Kellie Leitch.

The TCRC-led unit’s contract that year was reached through arbitration, as was their previous deal, which followed a two-week strike and back-to-work legislation in 2012.

‘Mutually beneficial’

The labour unrest resumes at CP as TCRC-led conductors and engineers at its Montreal rival, Canadian National Railway (CN), ratify a five-year collective agreement.

The deal, reached with the help of federal mediators, runs through to the end of December 2022, the company announced Wednesday.

CN said the agreement offers “wage and benefit improvements in each year of the agreement, in line with similar contracts in the industry, and modifies work rules that were of concern to both CN and engineers.”

The deal “demonstrates CN’s ongoing commitment to working together with our employees and the TCRC to address workplace issues, in a respectful and mutually beneficial manner,” CN chief operating officer Mike Cory said in a release. — AGCanada.com Network

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