VIA Rail and Union settle on Arbitration - Strike Over

by Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke | July 26, 2009 at 04:39 am

374 views | 44 Recommendations | 15 comments

340 unionized locomotive engineers walked off the job Friday afternoon, after a noon deadline passed without a new contract. This essentialy shut down all passenger rail travel in Canada.

In a joint statement, VIA and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) announced that passenger trains would be running later today and that the service would be fully restored by Monday morning.

"The process proposed by the mediator will allow the parties to resolve outstanding issues and, most importantly, will get Canada's passenger rail service up and running," said Paul Cote, Via's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Via Rail Canada says passenger trains will be running again later today and full service will be restored by Monday morning, after the company and its engineers agreed to seek binding arbitration.

Via's 340 unionized locomotive engineers walked off the job Friday afternoon, after a noon deadline passed without a new contract.

Early Sunday morning, less than 48 hours after the strike began, the company and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) issued a joint statement announcing an agreement to enter into binding arbitration to end the strike.

"The process proposed by the mediator will allow the parties to resolve outstanding issues and, most importantly, will get Canada's passenger rail service up and running," said Paul Cote, Via's President and Chief Executive Officer.

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mudricky

at 05:36 on July 26th, 2009

When do you think they well sign new contracts?

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 06:04 on July 26th, 2009

I suppose it depends how the arbitration goes. Since both sides agreed to arbitration, I would think that they both sit down with the arbitrator soon, present their case and the arbitrator will then come up with a binding contract proposal.

marianmo

at 07:01 on July 26th, 2009

ty for this story..from what

i understand the arbitration is binding..so both parties will have to accept what the arbitrator decides...

Barry ORegan

at 07:32 on July 26th, 2009

Good thing too, guess layoffs in this economic climate would not bode well for union members.

Amy Judd

at 07:41 on July 26th, 2009

Oh good, that was quick.

Mary Richard

at 08:36 on July 26th, 2009

Great to hear! Wish our garbage strike could have gotten resolved so quickly (day 35 now).

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 08:42 on July 26th, 2009

Maybe that's what is needed in Toronto, binding arbitration. I heard stories of rats starting to make a feast of the garbage. It has also caused a lot of your bigger events to be cancelled.

This weekend in Edmonton we have the Capitol Exhibition, Edmonton Indy, Taste of Edmonton and an international soccer match.

Mary Richard

at 09:06 on July 26th, 2009

Yup, our parks/dumps keep having to be sprayed with pesticides, that's gotta be good for our kids ...

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 09:25 on July 26th, 2009

No kidding, this has gone on way too long, will somebody blink?

158

at 10:05 on July 26th, 2009

Just how important is passenger rail in Canada?

Is it just commuting or is there still much long distance travel.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 10:14 on July 26th, 2009

Via Rail travels from Coast to Coast. Many tourists will book a stretch of the rail to link up with an airport at the other end. You may have seen the story published on NP Rocky Mountaineer Rolls on. It shows one of the things VIA does. This strike would have stifled the tourist trade and it already screwed some around.

Here is the story I did yesterday on VIA Rail Strike VIA Rail engineers to strike