CAW Members at CP Ratify New Deal

Media advisory for national comprehensive release 

CAW Members at CP Ratify New Deal

February 24, 2011

(Toronto) CAW members at CP Rail have ratified a new deal by 82 per cent in a series of cross country membership meetings that took place over the last two weeks. 

This new agreement includes increases in wages, benefits, retirement incentives and language improvements around work rules and skilled trades.

CAW National President Ken Lewenza offered his congratulations to the bargaining committee for their hard work in securing a deal that was overwhelmingly approved by members at CP. “This was a challenging round of negotiations and I believe the deal we reached with CP makes important improvements in the work lives of our members,” said Lewenza. 

In this set of negotiations, the union also faced the pending closure of the Ogden shop in Calgary, Alberta. In order to lessen the impact on Ogden workers, the union negotiated retirement incentives, severance programs and work opportunities at Calgary’s Alyth facility.

“It was a difficult set of negotiations, particularly given the demographics and varying needs of the membership –ranging from new hires to those heading into retirement,” said CAW Local 101 President Tom Murphy. “We were ultimately successful in meeting a great number of these needs.”

CAW Local 101 represents 2,100 shopcraft (skilled trades) workers at CP. The CAW reached a deal with CP on February 5.

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