Canadian Pacific Rail (TSX:CP) and the union representing its striking workers have agreed to accept binding arbitration just hours before Ottawa was set to enact back-to-work legislation.
Labour Minister Kellie Leitch, who was preparing to introduce a bill to send more than 3,000 Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) members back to work, instead ended up congratulating the employers and its workers Monday (February 16).
“I am extremely pleased that CP and the TCRC have decided to send their outstanding issues to voluntary arbitration,” she said in a statement.
“This will bring an end to the work stoppage that could have seriously harmed the Canadian economy.”
Labour agreements covering about 3,800 workers expired December 31, 2014, but job action did not hit CP until February 15.
"This decision ensures both sides will get back to the table, and gets us back to moving Canada's economy forward," E. Hunter Harrison, CP's CEO, said in a statement.
"While we would have preferred a negotiated settlement, this is the right thing to do at this time."
Ottawa will be left in charge of selecting an arbitrator to determine the conditions of the new agreement.
Train operations, meanwhile, are set to resume Tuesday, according to the union.
“We took this strike action to improve the quality of life and the working conditions for our membership,” TCRC president Doug Finnson said in a statement.
“Our preference is to negotiate these improvements through collective bargaining, and the worst thing that could happen is a legislated process…consequently the better option is to use a fair mediation and arbitration dispute resolution in front of an independent arbitrator.”
