CP Rail, TCRC avoid strike — for now

[Zeb]

By Today’s Trucking website

CALGARY — After accepting a tentative deal from CP Rail, the union representing 4,500 locomotive engineers and conductors says the workers want to keep negotiating.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) says the workers voted (by a narrow margin) not to ratify the Memorandum of Settlement it signed with the railway in September. At the time, the union described the agreement as an improvement "in wages, benefits, and pension provisions, as well as the introduction of work/life balance issues."

For now the two sides have entered into a "no strike/no lockout agreement" while they "discuss the next steps."

The parties have agreed to meet this week to "explore opportunities to reach a mutually acceptable agreement.

In May, about 3,000 maintenance and track workers went on strike for 26 days.