CPKC requests conciliator in talks with Teamsters

Canadian Pacific Kansas City has filed a Notice of Dispute with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service requesting the appointment of a Federal Conciliation Officer in union negotiations.

This is a process available under the Canada Labour Code to help employers and unions achieve negotiated collective agreements.

The railway is in talks with both the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) – Train & Engine (T&E) division and the TCRC – Rail Canada Traffic Controllers (RCTC) division trying to reach negotiated collective agreements.

The TCRC – T&E represents CPKC’s roughly 3,200 locomotive engineers, conductors and train and yard workers, and the TCRC – RCTC represents approximately 80 rail traffic controllers, all in Canada.

Since September 2023, CPKC has been negotiating with the TCRC – T&E and TCRC – RCTC. CPKC said in a statement that it “has offered both a fair and balanced agreement with wage and benefit increases and more schedule predictability and quality of life improvements for its T&E employees.”

The latest collective bargaining negotiation session took place the week of January 29, 2024. Both CPKC and Union leadership remain far apart on the issues.

Federal Conciliation has been required in nine of the 10 collective bargaining rounds of negotiations between the TCRC – T&E and CPKC since 1993.

CPKC said it is committed to arriving at a negotiated outcome that is in the best interests of its employees and their families, its customers, its shareholders and the overall Canadian economy. “Everyone benefits when the railway can continue providing essential rail service, delivering goods across Canada and supporting the import and export of goods internationally,” it said.

While the two TCRC collective agreements expired on December 31, 2023, they remain in effect under Canadian labour law until the parties reach new agreements.