OTTAWA – The federal government is poised to introduce legislation to end a strike by more than 3,000 locomotive engineers and other train workers at Canadian Pacific Railway.
A government source told The Canadian Press the legislation will be tabled Monday morning. A notice to allow for introduction of the bill was placed on the Commons order paper late Friday afternoon.
The strike against CP Rail began after contract talks failed to reach an agreement before the midnight deadline. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union represents the 3,300 workers.
READ MORE: AMT injunction to keep commuter trains rolling rejected
The bill, titled “An Act to provide for the resumption of rail service operations,” is to be presented by Labour Minister Kellie Leitch,who was involved in negotiations between the two sides last week. In a Staten issued Saturday night, Leitch made it clear that the government was prepared to end the strike quickly.
“Due to this reckless disregard for Canadians, and the Canadian economy, our government will review all available options to end any work-stoppage expediently, up to and including the introduction of legislation in Parliament,” she said.
Peter Edwards, vice-president of Labour Relations for CP Rail, expressed support for the government’s move.
“What we’re really hoping for is an agreement that will work for both, but we haven’t been able to get it” he said. “We’re supportive of getting our good railroaders back.”
READ MORE: CN gets strike notice; government preps legislation to prevent walkout
He said that although “the door is open” to continue negotiating with the union, no additional talks have yet been scheduled.
In a message on their website, Teamsters president Douglas Finnson expressed his disappointment in “our government’s clear favouritism towards the corporate position.”
CP Rail said it would use management personnel to operate a reduced freight service on its Canadian network, but Edwards said he did not know how many trains would be operating.
The strike was expected to affect both passenger and freight train service across the country.
Comments