Canadian Pacific Railway Shutdown Underway as Talks With the Union Continue

With no new negotiated contract in place between the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and the Teamsters Canada Rail conference (TCRC), which represents 3,000 engineers, conductors, yard workers, and other train employees, CP rail traffic ground to a halt at 12:01 AM on Sunday, March 20, 2022.

Both sides are pointing fingers at each other as to the cause of the service disruption. The CP is accusing the TCRC of removing workers prior to the 12:01 AM deadline, while the TCRC is saying that the CP had locked union members out.

Canadian Pacific spokesperson Patrick Waldron told CBC News the company was at the negotiating table with federal mediators Saturday in Calgary, and sent a new contract offer to the union that evening. “We never got a response,” he said.

In a statement, the office of federal Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan said that while the work stoppage had begun, both parties were still at the bargaining table with mediators, and it expected “the parties to keep working until they reach an agreement.”

O’Regan noted that there were more than two dozen outstanding issues in the dispute include wages, benefits, and pensions that still needed to be resolved.

O’Regan remained hopeful on Sunday evening that CP and the union would come to an agreement, and that government intervention would not be needed. “The best deals, the longest lasting ones, the ones that are most resilient are the ones that are arrived at the table by both parties,” O’Regan said.

However, the House of Commons resumes Monday (3-21-22) following a two-week break, so legislation could come as early as Monday if an agreement cannot be reached.