MONTREAL — Rail workers across Canada are awaiting the decision of the Canada Industrial Relations Board on their right to strike. The 9,300 conductors, engineers, yard workers and dispatchers at both the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroads, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, have voted twice — in May and in June – by more than 98% in favor of strike action.
The Canadian government May 19 suspended the right to strike and bosses’ locking out of workers, claiming this could jeopardize “the health and safety of Canadians.” The board is supposed to clarify what is and what is not an “essential good” that needs to be exempted from any strike. The Canada Industrial Relations Board, a government-appointed body, has said it intends to reach a decision on Aug. 9, but it could take longer.
“The government is doing everything it can to prevent us from striking while hiding behind the pretext of safety for Canadians,” Eugen Bernard, who has been a conductor at Canadian National for nine years, told the Militant. “Both CN and CPKC, with the government, don’t care about safety, they only care about profits.”
“Hit by labour shortages, both CN and CPKC are trying to squeeze more availability out of train crews,” the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said in a June 29 statement. “CPKC aims to gut the collective agreement of all safety-critical fatigue provisions.” Meanwhile, “CN is targeting fewer articles around fatigue, but their offer is contingent on the acceptance of a forced relocation scheme. … Compromising on safety, or threatening to tear families apart for months, are not solutions to staffing problems.”
“CN and CPKC are trying to force changes to our collective agreements that would move the clock back on working conditions and rail safety. The Teamsters are trying to stop them,” the statement said.
“I voted for the strike,” said Giulio Archambault, another train conductor at Canadian National. “Safety on the job is a critical issue, and I feel like it would be strongly hindered” if we accepted the company proposals. “I want to be considered a human being, not a machine.”
On top of the earlier delays, CPKC bosses have asked for a 30-day “cooling-off period” if the Canada Industrial Relations Board allows a strike.
Many rail workers followed closely the recent walkout by over 600 mechanics at WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline, members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association.
The Liberal Minister of Labor, Seamus O’Regan, asked the industrial relations board to ban the strike and impose arbitration. While the board agreed to impose arbitration, they did not try to stop a strike.
The union went out for three days, forcing WestJet to negotiate with them before approving an improved contract by over 96%.
It wouldn’t have been good “if they imposed arbitration on the WestJet mechanics, because they could do it to us,” Loupca Fournelle, a conductor at Canadian National, told the Militant. “They showed that we have a lot of power when we go on strike.”