CPKC says it will maintain rail operations across Canada despite workers strike

Locomotives sit idol at the CPKC railyard in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. A union representing close to 300 signals workers with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. says its members are on strike. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — A union representing close to 300 signals workers with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. says its members are off the job after its 72-hour strike notice expired on Sunday morning without a deal.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers says the employees install, maintain, test and repair railway signalling and communications systems across the CPKC network from Vancouver to Montreal.

The railway says in a statement that it has implemented contingency plans to maintain operations across Canada, and it says safe and efficient rail service has continued.

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CPKC says it has offered wage and benefit increases consistent with its collective agreements with other unions, and it calls for the IBEW to end its strike and accept binding arbitration.

The union says despite months of bargaining and the completion of the federally mandated conciliation and mediation process, CPKC has failed to meaningfully engage on the union’s key fiscal proposals.

“The bargaining committee did not take this step lightly,” IBEW official Jason Sommer said in a Sunday statement.

“Throughout this process, the union remained committed to reaching a fair negotiated settlement for our members. Unfortunately, the company failed to meaningfully address the issues affecting recruitment, retention, compensation, and work-life balance within the Signals and Communications department.”

The union said the job action is backed by a 96-per-cent strike mandate vote, and that it remains available to meet with the company at any time.

It said in addition to wages, expenses incurred by employees remain an outstanding issue, as well as work-life balance issues arising from what it called “extensive on-call obligations and demanding schedules.”

The union further said employee retention problems within the Signals and Communications department are getting worse as experienced employees leave for better pay in the railway industry, including at short-line railways.

CPKC addressed the claims in a second statement Sunday, saying the union wants wage and benefit increases that are double what the company’s other Canadian collective bargaining units get.

It also said it has offered a progressive scheduling option with a seven days on, seven days off schedule. The system has been in place for five years with Calgary-based Signals and Communications workers, the railway said, resulting in a near 100-per-cent employee retention among that Calgary workforce.

“While the IBEW leadership suggests that attrition issues are being driven by on-call requirements and challenging work schedules, they refuse to entertain the progressive schedule option for the national workforce that has already proven successful in Calgary,” the CPKC statement said.

It said that after spending months bargaining in good faith, it’s disappointed that a work stoppage could not be prevented.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2026

Companies in this story: (TSX: CP)

The Canadian Press