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Canadian Pacific shuts down Canadian operations as workers strike
There has always been a need for labor unions and will continue to be in the future!
It’s an unfortunate fact of life that precious few companies offer pension plans these days. To hear of a strike because of that issue certainly seems like the workers are in denial. Even if the plan is no longer what it was, be thankful you still have one.
Good reporting would tell us what consessions the unions and railroad are working on. Watch out for shippers switching to trucks for their needs. Other railroads will be watching this one.
Oh, the Rock Island Line was a mighty fine road…
Oh, the Rock Island Line was a mighty fine road…
Wouldn’t it be interesting if CP management decides it has had enough and leases the railroad operations to a third party? A third party which is not beholden to the union because it never signed a contract. A third party which decides to hire outside the union for replacements. Something tells me quite a few people would be willing to work for less than what the union gets paid.
A friend of mine recently toured a plant. The union official was promoting the need for a union and stated that certain union worker on the floor was making over $100,000.00 a year. Then the official asked “where else could he get a job making that?” There lies the problem with unions - the floor worker is not worth $100.000.00.
As a longtime employee of the BNSF/BN Railway, I’m puzzled about the pension arguement. It isn’t an issue in the United States, but apparently in Canada, there is a separate pension in addition to the CPP? Canadians, please respond.
Mr. Nichols, you need explain why you think this is insane and that the unions need go the way of the dodo bird.
Unions need to go the way of the dodo bird. This is insane.
It is BECAUSE precious few companies offer pension plans these days that unions are necessary, and that they must remain strong. When an individual worker tries to negotiate with a firm one-on-one he loses. Without unions all working people (the overwhelming majority of the population) would likely be working for minimum wage, or less.
Excuse me for being on the side of reason, but this is not the location for union bashing. Regardless of your personal opinions towards unions, please do not express them in this forum. This should be used as a source of information which I thank everyone at Trains for providing.
Now, to point something out for those who might not realize this, the railroad industry in Canada does not have a pension plan like the United States. In the US, railroaders pay into Railroad Retirement which is funded by the Railroad Industry and NOT by the general taxpayer. Those in the general public that think taxpayer money goes into railroad retirement are absolutely absurd.
Canada does not have a national pension program like Railroad Retirement, it is privately funded by the railroad companies. For a majority of people that are my age (late 20s), pensions might be the last thing to worry about. However, I am personally concerned if something were to happen to railroad retirement because I am paying into it as a railroader and no one in the general public puts funds into my pension.
The union is expressing itself by striking because they do not want to lose their pension from the CP. Working as a railroader is very difficult account of being away from home for days at a time, being subject to call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and missing birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, children’s activities, etc. Having a pension is the reward for living with this lifestyle for a person’s working career.
Hopefully, the company and the union come to terms. Maybe an increase in funding from either party is in order, I really don’t know what the solution is. I’m just pointing out one of the facts in the argument.
It amazes me that the unions are so out of touch with the public mood. They seem blissfully unaware that public goodwill toward them vanished many, many walkouts ago. People in general are sick of being held hostage by essential service workers and no one will be sorry to see the government order them back to work.
Working on the Railroad is not a easy job…There are wrecks and employees are hurt all the time…The UNIONS ARE THERE TO SUPPORT good rules and pay for this kind of work that can result in death or serious enjury. So in this case they should be paid well…and bye the way, they have to work odd hours and have no home life…SO THINK OF THAT WHEN YOU MAKE COMMENTS…BEST DAVE
Working on the Railroad is not a easy job…There are wrecks and employees are hurt all the time…The UNIONS ARE THERE TO SUPPORT good rules and pay for this kind of work that can result in death or serious enjury. So in this case they should be paid well…and bye the way, they have to work odd hours and have no home life…SO THINK OF THAT WHEN YOU MAKE COMMENTS…BEST DAVE
Well Sam, David and Mr. Bean, if this is not the place for union bashing then it should also not be presenting pro-union opinions.
I don’t know if Canada can call for a cooling off period, but recent railroad disputes in the U.S. have resulted back to work orders being issued by both Republican and Democrat administrations as I recall. This should probably be done in Canada since the disruption of service will effect not only their economy, but also that of other nations.
Someone noted the possibility of third party operations. My thoughts involved Canadian National.
I would have to agree with David and Sam. While not a big supporter of unions, and I work for SEIU, there are industries where unions are vital, the transportation industries along with teachers’ and garment workers unions being the only ones I can justify any existence for. These industries typically are either dangerous or demand their workers work odd or long hours.
In all fairness to CP, however, if CP were making the kinds of profit that UP and BNSF make, pension costs would probably be a non-issue, but CP just has a major corporate shake-up because it isn’t making the kind of profit shareholders expect. Therefore, some things have to give, and the railroad has chosen pensions as one of those things.
If CP can’t increase profits, it might just give Ackman the excuse to sell the railroad off piece by piece, and that would be a loss for CP employees and Canadians.
No one doubts the mom and apple pie portion of a union’s mandate. Worker safety equals public safety. It’s pretty simple. But rightly or wrongly a lot of members of the general public perceive the unions as using the strike as a means to get everything they can. The perception is one of greed and entitlement. This could be easily remedied by the union specifically revealing the pension grid. How many years of service, at what level of contribution per paycheck, equals how much pension. Lets have the details and then the public could evaluate the credibility of the demands.
While it’s true that CP is not the most profitable of the large railroads, the fact is that their management agreed to the pension formula in previous collective agreements - but now that the time has come to pay up, they’re crying poverty at the same time as they gave Fred Green an $18 million golden parachute. Doesn’t anyone seen inconsistency in this?
I laugh at those of you who suggest the railroads just rid of it’s unionized labor and hire cheap replacements. You obviously have absolutely no idea of the difficulty involved and the time it takes to qualify just one person to be involved with the movement of trains or the hazards involved with performing these functions. Testing requirements to obtain an Engineers license are more difficult than the bar exam for lawyers. On a good day when things are running smoothly it would seem to the average person that the job is easy. We get paid for the knowledge and understanding of federal rules and applying them when necessary in addition to whatever physical requirements are used to perform our duties.