Canadian Pacific Kansas City reached a new collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the railroad announced Friday.
The agreement is effective from Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2027, and includes 3% annual wage increases. The labor deal issued by Arbitrator William Kaplan covers approximately 3,200 Teamsters-represented CPKC locomotive engineers, conductors, train and yard workers and 80 rail traffic controllers represented by the Rail Canada Traffic Controllers division.
The arbitrator’s award does not require ratification by the union. Talks between the parties concluded May 11, a union spokesperson said in an email to Supply Chain Dive.
Prior to talks between CPKC and the Teamsters, arbitration discussions were conducted between the union and Canadian National, which also resulted in a new contract between those parties, the rail carrier announced on April 7. The three-year collective bargaining agreement between the carrier and its roughly 6,000 union workers also offers a 3% annual wage increase from Jan. 1, 2024 to Dec. 31, 2026.
TCRC President Paul Boucher in a statement was critical of the union’s new contact with Canadian National, saying it “closely resembles the status quo” and failed to address rest or fatigue projections.
The new labor agreements between Canada’s main rail carriers and the Teamsters end a period of labor strife that began last summer. Work stoppages at both railroads began Aug. 22 but lasted less than a day after the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the railroads to resume operations.
