General Committee of Adjustment CP West
August 15, 2022 - Sisters and Brothers: This letter is further to our bulletin of March 22, 2022, with respect to our binding arbitration/mediation process that was conducted beginning August 12, 2022 and ending with today’s award issued by Arbitrator William Kaplan.
Enclosed with this letter is the award issued by the Arbitrator and the agreed-upon items set out in the Memorandum of Settlement dated March 21, 2022.
In consideration of the hard positions of the parties at bargaining and the near certainty that our dispute would eventually end in a final and binding arbitration as ordered by the government. For this reason, our bargaining committee made the decision it would be in all of our best interests to take control of the situation and work out an agreement that gives us power over the terms, conditions and eventual arbitrator.
Despite our best-efforts CP Rail has chosen to initiate a lockout tonight 0001 EDT Sunday March 20, 2022, rather than bargain in good faith, the Union simultaneously with the lockout are also on strike. During this past nine days (Friday March 11th onward) the Union has been in position and remained available and ready to negotiate the issues put forward. Unfortunately, the company has done little to try and secure a deal. It is clear the company by its’ forecasting and planned lockout is depending on the inevitable back to work legislation, as their process of bargaining.
“First and foremost, let us mention that this lockout denotes Canadian Pacific’s irresponsibility in terms of labour relations, as demonstrated by its poor behaviour at the bargaining table. The lockout also demonstrates CP’s irresponsibility with regards to the continuity of the overall Canadian supply chain,” says Dave Fulton, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) spokesperson at the bargaining table. After a never-ending pandemic, exploding commodity prices and the war in Ukraine, this lockout adds an unnecessary layer of insecurity for many Canadians,”
“I want to remind everyone that only last month, Scott Moe chose to support a minority of professional truck drivers who used our roads and bridges to illegally block trade routes with our largest partner, the United States,” said TCRC President Lyndon Isaak. “These blockades completely shut down border crossings and prevented workers and members of the Canadian public, who were complying with the mandatory vaccine mandate, from crossing the Canada/U.S. border,”
No doubt you have been reading the information distributed by CP regarding collective bargaining and given the numerous requests we feel it’s necessary to respond. As we continue to bargain in good faith, we are extremely disappointed to see the misleading statements released by CP, and the inaccurate picture being painted. As your TCRC leadership, we’d like to update you on our position and share the facts with you. We have consulted with both actuarial and legal support during this process and offer these comments.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference will continue to participate in the mediation process with the assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), and the next meetings are planned to take place between March 11 and March 16, 2022.
Please be advised that the electronic voting has now closed in our request for a strike mandate and the ballots have been tallied by Simply Voting. Your negotiating committee thanks every member who voted in this matter and for the tremendous response and support from the ballots sent out this past month. There were 3062 ballots sent out to the membership. Simply Voting has provided the following today February 28, 2022, with 96.7% voting in favour of strike action if necessary.
The electronic strike ballots were sent out beginning February 1st, 2022; and there have been numerous requests for replacement ballots due to various reasons including undelivered ballots. We encourage everyone to update their address with the Union. Currently, the balloting was to end on February 21st at 1200 Eastern Standard Time (EST). Given the vast number of requests, we are extending the voting period by one week to end on Monday, February 28th, 2022; at 1800 EST. This will ensure those who are eligible to vote are given a reasonable opportunity to participate.
The balloting opened on February 11th and the process will end on February 21st, 2022, EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). If you have not received your ballot or if you require a replacement ballot please contact the National Office at info@teamstersrail.ca or by phone at 613-235-1828 for instructions on how to obtain a replacement immediately.
Members should be starting to receive their ballot in the mail as they were sent out via Canada Post on February 01, 2022. We urge all to cast their vote in an act of solidarity in the interest of protecting your working conditions, benefits and wages. It is extremely important to send the Company a clear message that the Membership supports the TCRC Bargaining Committee and the proposals that have been put forward on behalf of the Membership.
Montreal, February 10, 2022 - The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) has served a Notice of Dispute to the Minister of Labour under the Canada Labour Code in accordance with the Canada Labour Code regarding its dispute with CP Rail. The main issues at hand include wages, benefits and pensions.
With respect to Bulletin #5, this is to advise that we commenced distributing strike ballots to the membership on February 01, 2022, via Canada Post. The membership should begin receiving this information immediately. Detailed instructions as to voting timelines and directions on the electronic ballot process being conducted by “Simply Voting” will be contained within this correspondence.
As you are also aware we will be conducting a strike vote and you will be seeing your ballot information in the mail soon. The vote will be conducted electronically through Simply Voting.
With respect to the Company’s letter, and response to our Negotiation Bulletin #4, that was forwarded to the Local Chairs as well as being posted in yard offices and on bulletin boards, we have filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). The complaint also includes other violations of the Code taking place during bargaining.
We continue to ensure your demands are heard regardless of the Company’s position on each particular subject. Unfortunately, given the number of issues outstanding, we will be requesting that the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) provide their assistance in the current process. This is to inform you that we will serve notice of dispute to the Minister of Labour with respect to our current round of collective bargaining with CP Rail.
This bargaining session consisted of further explanations and clarifications about certain issues from both parties and included discussions on various components of our demands. There continues to remain much discussion to address your demands and concerns respecting all matters at hand.
There remains a lot of discussion to complete this preliminary task to address your demands and concerns respecting these matters. In continuing this task, we will be requesting relevant information through the Local Chairs that will help us to advance your issues through the bargaining process. We expect and appreciate the ongoing cooperation and involvement of the membership in working with the Local Chairs in gathering any information.
Both parties provided dialogue on their demands and healthy discussions took place. We are currently reviewing the Company’s demands however we are seeking the membership’s input about their views on the Company’s documents.
We would like to thank you the national office and Teamsters Canada for their support through this process. Also, we would like to thank the membership and the Division Officers for their support and assistance.
Mailout to all members will be June 29th, 2018 with electronic voting beginning on July 9th and closing July 20th, 2018. In order to protect our rights under the code the ballot question is worded so that a no vote also authorizes another strike in the event that you decide to not ratify this MOS.
May 30, 2018 - Sisters and Brothers: This letter is further to our bulletin of May 29, 2018 with respect to our negotiations with the Company. Following a very long and productive night and morning we were able to achieve a tentative negotiated settlement with the Company including the Kootenay Valley Railway.
May 26, 2018 - Sisters and Brothers: As you are now aware, the results of the Company’s Final Offer were received from The Canadian Industrial Relations Board regarding the Members decision to REJECT at an astounding 98.1%. Following the release of these results, your Bargaining Committee then met with the Company, including CEO Keith Creel, throughout the day until late last evening.
The results of the Canadian Industrial Relations Board ballot regarding Canadian Pacific Railway’s final offer have been tabulated. The results of the ballot were 2472 number of ballots returned out of over 3000 sent to our Membership. 98.1 percent of the employees voted to REJECT the Company’s final offer.
CP Rail couriered to each of you a package encouraging you to vote for the offer and it contained their latest in a long list of changes to their questions and answers and had new interpretations of what they say is their offer. This strange turn of events simply shows how difficult it has been to try to negotiate with this group. CP Rail never tried to negotiate many of the items in the offer with our bargaining committee. Given the numerous “clarifications” put out by CP Rail, it appears they continue to bargain with themselves.
In the likely event the Company’s offer is rejected, we remain committed to achieving a settlement that is equitable and acceptable to our membership. We will continue to push for provisions to address fatigue management and lifestyle issues, in line with the membership’s priorities and the science surrounding the matter. We encourage all members to take an active role in determining the outcome on this offer. Contrary to Mr. Creel’s letter, there are concessions in the Company’s offer that affect all employees.
May 23 is Judgment Day at Canadian Pacific,” said the president of the TCRC, Doug Finnson. “CP has done everything it can to make a strike inevitable, but they can still avoid a work stoppage by bargaining in good faith.”
“Teamsters are ready negotiate with CP but we cannot bargain alone,” he added. “CP has to be ready to settle outstanding issues and to provide workers with a good and fair collective agreement.”
This is in response to the latest Company contract proposal and letter from Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Keith Creel. You will be receiving this offer in the form of a mail-out from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board shortly. Again, your Bargaining Committee recommends that you REJECT the Company offer, as we believe we can achieve a more equitable settlement with the employer that addresses the Membership’s original contract demands including fatigue issues. We believe once you have thoroughly reviewed the document, you will agree with our assessments.
At 1305 MDT, CP Rail tendered final offers to the TCRC and IBEW Bargaining Committees to renew the Collective Agreements. At the same time, CP made a request of the Minister of Labour, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, under Section 108.1 of the Canada Labour Code to direct a vote of the membership take place with respect to these final offers. Both the TCRC and IBEW Bargaining Committees very strongly recommend that the Membership REJECT the Company’s offers. As a result, the strike notice is withdrawn until the CIRB vote is complete, at which time all of the Union’s rights to strike are still in force.
Calgary, April 20, 2018 – The Minister of Labour, on the advice of federal mediators, has agreed to Canadian Pacific’s request to order a vote on a final offer to renew their collective agreements with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and the IBEW System Council No. 11. Both unions strongly recommend that their members reject the company offers.
"This afternoon, I spoke with CP Rail President & CEO Keith Creel and TCRC President Doug Finnson, and will be speaking with the IBEW shortly, regarding their collective bargaining negotiations. All parties are remaining at the bargaining table to continue their discussions. I communicated my expectation that the parties will continue to negotiate in good faith and arrive at an agreement Canada's continued economic success and many good middle class jobs depend on it.
During our session today, the bargaining committee exercised our rights and issued notice of strike to be effective 0001 (EST) April 21, 2018. Attached is our correspondence with the Company and the Minister regarding the notice.
Laval, QC, April 14, 2018 – In a press release replete with fabrication and innuendo, Canadian Pacific (CP) last night claimed it was trying to negotiate in good faith with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). The reality is that the company is attempting to manufacture a crisis to force government intervention and avoid bargaining with the Teamsters.
Please be advised that the electronic voting has now closed in our request for a strike mandate and the ballots have been tallied by Simply Voting. Your negotiating committee thanks every member who voted in this matter and for the tremendous response and support from the ballots sent out this past month. There were 3027 ballots sent out to the membership. Simply Voting has provided the following today April 6, 2018, with 94.2% voting in favor of strike action if necessary.
The Company has agreed with very little that we have proposed. The Company continues to insist on concessions and the decimation of our rest and other Collective Agreement provisions, and has made little movement in regards to their demands to diminish your working conditions. Our bargaining committee is not willing to accept these concessions in order to achieve provisions that allow us to adopt a system in our workplace that allows us to work properly rested and in accordance with proper sleep science principles.
Despite our efforts, the employer continues to demand what we see as significant concessions in virtually all areas of the present Collective Agreements. The employer has continuously released impressive reports of earnings for last year consistent with the pattern of significant profits for several years. Profits seem to be followed by even more profits, and their forecast is for continued robust traffic levels, lower operating ratio resulting in record profits. There is no reasonable explanation for the employer to continue seeking concessions from their employees, you, the Member. We continue to face these demands and so far, have been unable to secure an acceptable contract settlement.
This was the first session where Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services changed their role from mediators and are now acting as conciliators between the parties, due to the notice of dispute served to the Minister of Labour on January 22, 2018. To reiterate, the process of conciliation normally lasts 60 - days from the date the conciliation officers are appointed, however there is the ability to extend the 60 - days should both parties mutually agree. Following the completion of the conciliation period, there is a 21 - day cooling off period that effectively takes the parties to the point where a legal strike or lockout can take place. Prior to any strike action we are required to poll the membership and will inform you when that may occur.
January 23, 2018 - Your TCRC Negotiating Committee met with CP in the presence of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services for 5 days from January 15 to 19, 2018 in Western Canada. So far, we have now met with the Company on four occasions. The process so far has been at a slow pace.
Your TCRC Negotiating Committee met with Canadian Pacific Railway this week, December 11 to December 13, 2017 in Eastern Canada. To date, during the bargaining sessions with the Company we have focused on explaining our demands and taking note of the Company’s demands. Although we are still in the exploratory stages of discussions, our concentration and efforts are on achieving a negotiated settlement. Negotiations are intense and time consuming, we thank you for your patience and will update you on a continual basis.
Your TCRC Negotiating Committee met with Canadian Pacific Railway over five days from November 27 to December 1, 2017 in Western Canada. This represented our first full session with the Company bargaining team.
Your TCRC Negotiating Committee met with Canadian Pacific Railway in the presence of Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS services were provided as the parties voluntarily requested their conciliation services) Thursday November 16, 2017 in Toronto to exchange our proposals and demands.
On November 7, 2017 the Company formally requested that the Board adjourn the hearing dates currently scheduled for November 14 to 17, 2017. The Board has decided to adjourn the scheduled hearings and set aside the following possible continuation dates of April 3 to 6 and April 9 to 13, 2018.
The results of the ratification vote for the September 6, 2017 MOS are 67.1% voted against and 32.9% voted in favour. The totals are as follows:
Attached is a letter from the Company regarding the effective dates for implementation of the items listed in Appendix 4. As you will note, the Company has committed to implementing several MOS items prior to ratification. These items are clarification matters and / or the result of grievances. Further, the items do not require changes to the Collective Agreement and can be implemented prior to ratification.
Brothers and Sisters; This letter is further to our bulletin of June 26, 2017 with respect to our meetings with the Company in Ottawa. During that meeting, Mr. Creel had asked the Union to consider an extension to our current contract. The Company has subsequently followed up and provided a proposal to extend the agreement until the end of 2018.