A months-long strike involving hundreds of Canadian Pacific Kansas City signal workers isn now over.
CPKC and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have agreed to binding arbitration, clearing the way for roughly 300 employees to return to work Monday, August 24th.
The workers walked off the job May 31 after contract talks failed to produce an agreement.
They install, maintain, test and repair signalling and communications equipment across CPKC’s Canadian network, stretching from Vancouver to Montreal.
Before the strike began, the union identified compensation, recruitment and retention, expenses and work-life balance among its concerns.
CPKC maintained railway operations during the work stoppage using contingency plans.
The new agreement means those employees will return to their jobs while unresolved contract issues move to binding arbitration rather than remaining at the bargaining table or on the picket line.
An arbitrator will ultimately settle outstanding issues between the railway and union.
For communities and businesses relying on Canada’s rail network, the agreement removes one lingering labour uncertainty as the busy late-summer shipping period continues.
The strike lasted nearly three months.
