Rail workers strike in Kamloops (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

RAIL STRIKE

Rail workers in Kamloops hit picket lines Thursday before binding arbitration ordered by feds

Aug 22, 2024 | 6:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — Picket lines were up across Canada on Thursday as both CPKC and CN Rail workers were locked out, triggering job action before the federal government stepped in to force binding arbitration.

Nearly 10,000 engineers, conductors and yard workers were off job across the nation with workers in Kamloops picketing along Lorne Street at the CPKC yard, and further north at the CN yard in what was the first ever simultaneous stoppage of the two companies.

“We’ve been negotiating with both companies since about November. Both companies have been demanding concessions and that is one of the very peculiar things about these negotiations. So far, the main sticking points are company demands not union proposals. Both companies want to roll back protections around fatigue, rest management, scheduling and, in the case of CN, the company also wants to implement a forced relocations scheme,” said Christopher Monetti with Teamsters Canada.

Bargaining between rail workers and Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City was set to resume Thursday morning (Aug. 22) after breaking off shortly before a midnight deadline that left the workers locked out by their employers. That was prior to the ordered binding arbitration.

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“Both companies have told us that they are struggling to find workers, that nobody wants to work and their solution is to increase crew availability,” said Monetti. “Our counter to that is that it’s not by squeezing your workers even harder that you solve a staffing problem. Quite the contrary — they need to work on building up a more humane rail industry and working to improve rather than roll back working conditions.”