* Labor minister will speak at 1.45 p.m. (1745 GMT
* Back-to-work legislation could become law this week
* Teamsters union walked off job on May 23
* Pensions is major sticking point in labor talks
* CP Rail stock drops 1.3 pct in Toronto
(Recasts with back-to-work legislation to be introduced Monday)
TORONTO, May 28 (Reuters) – The Canadian government will
announce on Monday that it intends to introduce a back-to-work
bill to end a strike at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd, a
source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Canadian Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is due to make an
announcement about the dispute in Ottawa at 1:45 p.m. (1745
GMT). She said last week she was prepared to introduce
back-to-work legislation if necessary.
Asked whether the minister would use Monday’s occasion to
announce the legislation, the source sad: “Yes.”
It was still unclear exactly when Raitt would introduce the
bill.
A strike by 4,800 locomotive engineers, conductors and
railyard workers at Canada’s second-biggest railway entered its
sixth day on Monday after mediated talks between the union and
company broke down during the weekend.
The government is concerned that the strike, which has shut
down freight operations across Canada at one of the country’s
two big railroads, could hurt an economy still struggling with
the aftermath of the last recession.
If the government speeds the back-to-work bill through the
legislative process, it could become law this week.
Members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference walked off
the job on May 23 after contract talks broke down. The biggest
stumbling block in the talks is a difference between the two
sides about pension payments.
The majority Conservative government previously used
back-to-work legislation to end strikes at Air Canada
and at the Canada Post mail service.
The New Democrats, the left-leaning opposition party in the
House of Commons, on Monday again criticized the government’s
approach, arguing that Ottawa’s intervention in labor disputes
skews negotiations in favor of employers.
“If employers know they can count on the government to
intervene on their side to put an end to collective bargaining,
then there is less need for them to have good faith negotiations
at the bargaining table,” Peggy Nash, the NDP finance critic,
told reporters in Ottawa.
Companies across a range of industries have scrambled to
find alternative ways to ship their grain, coal, fertilizer,
autos and other goods while CP trains sit idle.
Various industry groups, including manufacturing, mineral
and grain groups, have called on the federal government to
immediately intervene to end the dispute.
The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association said on
Monday its members, which include General Motors of Canada, Ford
Motor Co of Canada and Chrysler Canada, were incurring extra
logistics costs of C$100,000 ($97,500) a day due to the strike.
CP’s routes are mostly in western Canada and in the United
States. The U.S. operations are not affected by the strike
although any freight destined for Canada from south of the
border is being held up.
CP’s stock price was down 1.3 percent at C$76.15 on the
Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday morning.
($1 = 1.0253 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting By Euan Rocha, Randall Palmer and Nicole Mordant;
Editing by Janet Guttsman and Frank McGurty)
