The labor dispute at Canadian Pacific experienced a happy deprivation with the announcement of the return to work of employees on Tuesday and the use of an arbitrator to settle the dispute.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and the employer have agreed to a “final and binding” arbitration process, as negotiations still stumble over wages and the pension plan.
“The decision to accept final and binding arbitration is not taken lightly,” Dave Fulton, spokesman for the Teamsters union at the bargaining table, said in a statement.
“Although arbitration is not the preferred method, we were able to negotiate terms that were in the best interest of our members. Our members will return to work at noon local time [mardi]”, he added.
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“Through mediators from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Canadian Pacific and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference have agreed to settle the final issues of their collective bargaining through binding arbitration,” said Labor Minister Seamus O ‘Regan Jr., per statement.
“Normal operations will resume on March 22 and will continue throughout the arbitration. At the end of it, a new collective agreement will have been established,” assured the minister.
Recall that on Sunday, Canadian Pacific carried out its threat to lock out its employees, due to the deadlock in negotiations on the renewal of the collective agreement.
This labor dispute at CP is not without rekindling memories of the strike at Canadian Nation in 2019, which had, as we remember, paralyzed the deliveries of several products and caused a shortage of propane in Quebec.
Listen to Philippe-Vincent Foisy and Alexandre Moranville-Ouellet’s news review on QUB radio: