On the eve of the Work Stoppage

May 14th, 2007

Brothers and Sisters,

On the eve of the work stoppage at CPRail, I just wanted to take the time to let you all know how proud I am to be a part of this Brotherhood.

I read Fred Green's little epistle on 'Railtown' today, hiding his greed behind the excuse of "fairness to the other Unions". A man who pays himself almost 5 million dollars a year talking about fairness. No wonder they stick to their 'pattern'. They squeezed a small bargaining unit with weak leadership into accepting a substandard deal. But the less they pay their workers, the more they pocket. Take at look at their own increases.

Let Fred Green trumpet how paying you (and other unionized employees) less money than you are worth is actually a way of being fair. He might believe that kind of twisted logic, but I'm sure most people who read it just attribute it to the source.

We have received countless calls from the membership of the other Unions whose leadership had signed for the 'pattern'. They were all positive calls, saying how they hoped that we could succeed in 'knocking the bully off his perch' and end this charade of pattern bargaining.

But this contract is not about money. You know that. It is about respect. It is about what is fair and equitable. It is about standing up to the arrogance of the self declared "Lords of the Line".

When a company makes profits like the CPR does and then demands concessions from their workforce, it is time to say "enough is enough". The company not only failed to ever provide us with an accurate costing of demands, they told us that they did not care what their demands cost our membership. Their seniority demand alone would cost the membership, collectively, millions of dollars. Even more than Green makes.

You read the company's March 23rd offer and then you voted in a secret strike ballot. You voted in favour of a work stoppage by 80%. That was the offer that Fred (Red) Green says is "fair" and obviously you disagree. So do I. It isn't fair, it is unreasonable and unacceptable.

The company has refused to revise their position and left us no choice but to withhold our services. Not an easy decision to make. We tried every other reasonable avenue to achieve a negotiated settlement, but the company refused. They say that they can run the railway fine without us. Like little kids in a playground, they echo their bravado.

Fred Green says that CPR won't bow to the Teamsters. We don't want him to. All we wanted him to do is negotiate. Offer arguments, defend his position logically and then be willing to compromise.

They say that they are going to prove a point to us. We don't have to prove anything to them, we already know the truth. We aren't on strike for a challenge. We aren't on strike to fight. We aren't on strike to punish them.

We are on strike for a fair and equitable contract. Period.

We are exercising the last resort left to a labour force when met with an intractable and unreasonable company. We withhold our services. And they will pay the consequence for their actions.

Because they cannot run a railway without us. Not safely. Not on time. Not profitably.

My only hope is that the actions of Fred Green and his crowd do not cause any more loss of life. Unprotected and improperly inspected track is dangerous. Extremely dangerous.

Take care, Brothers and Sisters. I'll see you out on the lines.

Stay safe, stay strong, stay united,

Bill Brehl
President
TCRC MWED