5 June 2007
CP, Union Asked to Get Talks Back on Rails
Ottawa Ontario - Talks aimed at ending a strike at
Canadian Pacific Railway appeared to be on a slow track Monday, despite help from the federal Labour Department's chief mediator.
"This is not easy, is what I've heard," Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said as he left the House of
Commons. "It's difficult. We still hope the parties will take this opportunity to have the best that we could offer to them to try
to find an agreement."
Officials from Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and the Teamsters union resumed mediated talks Sunday night in Ottawa and negotiations
continued through the day Monday with no agreement in sight.
Blackburn invited the two sides back to the table and, as a signal of the importance of a quick resolution, appointed Elizabeth
MacPherson, director general for the federal mediation and conciliation service, as mediator to kick-start the talks.
Blackburn called for more flexibility in demands as he prodded both sides to find a way to end the dispute.
"We never know in that kind of situation, we never know how long it will take," the minister said. "Everyone is working
hard and putting water in their wine and trying to find a solution for their members and also for our country and for CP Rail."
After months of negotiations, the two sides stopped talking nearly three weeks ago when the company's more than 1,200 railway
maintenance workers went on strike. Shippers worry that a prolonged strike could derail their business, but railway officials said
service hadn't been disrupted.
Blackburn said he had no intention of introducing back-to-work legislation to end the strike.
"We really prefer the people would be able to reach an agreement," he said. "The government doesn't have to introduce a
law each time there is a strike. We believe that it's possible for themselves to reach an agreement."
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