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Local 101R Ratifies their Tentative Agreement
Dear Members,
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules and attending the ratification and strike vote meetings. We are please to report that the Local 101R membership has ratified the tentative agreement reached on January 13, 2023.
There is no other way to put it – this was a very difficult round of bargaining. Your bargaining committee was facing an employer who purposed concessions right off the bat. We knew we had our work cut out for us.
We did achieve significant victories in this agreement. For the first time ever, we were able to secure the doubling of the shift premium. This type of increase has not occurred in decades.
In addition to the shift premium increase, we were able to strengthen contract language that will assist tackling the heavy-handed discipline and grievance backlog.
Your bargaining committee feels that this agreement benefits our membership, considering the current economic outlook, as well as the most recent outcomes of other union rail negotiations at both CP and CN. The wages negotiated are in line with the industry rates.
Our 2-year agreement with CP places us in a strategically stronger position when we renegotiate in 2024.
This is because the Federal government plans to introduce anti-scab (i.e. replacement workers) legislation later this year. When this legislation is passed, we will have a level playing field to take on CP Rail, as we would not have to strike only to be forced into binding arbitration. We will instead have greater bargaining power to make significant gains during the next round contract talks, as the employer would be unable to implement “contingency plans” using replacement workers to continue operations.
The bargaining committee thanks the membership for your continued support and solidarity.
We encourage members to sign up to receive Rail Line, which will provide Unifor members with current news. Members can also access unifor.org/cpbargaining for bargaining updates; these two tools are your best source for up-to-date information.
Please get in touch with your local union representatives for additional information or questions.
In Solidarity,
Unifor Local 101R Master Bargaining Committee
