Calgary CP Rail employees say strike about 'quality of life'

Thousands of Canadian Pacific Railway workers are on strike after failing to reach an agreement with the company.

More than 3,000 locomotive engineers and conductors walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 15.

They want the company to comply with agreements requiring train crews to stop and rest after 10 hours of continuous work.

• Canadian Pacific Railway talks fail, engineers go on strike

"This is not about money, this is about dignity, quality of life, work-life balance," said Dennis Kennedy, withTeamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) Local 355. "It seems to have gotten worse over the last three years in regards to predictability."

Kennedy was one of many picketing outside CP's Ogden headquarters in Calgary on Sunday.

"There are times where I'll lay down and my phone will ring two hours later and I am called for a switcher or a train that came outof nowhere," he said. "And if you're not fit and restored and you tell them that, next thing you know, you're being disciplined."

This is not about money, this is about dignity, quality of life, work-life balance- Dennis Kennedy,TCRC local 355

Alexander Shevalier with the Calgary and District Labour Council says that quality of life is an issue for every worker.

"If you work a Monday to Friday, nine-to-five job, the weekend is a given, but for a lot of workers, particularly shift workers, getting two days off in a row is actually a big issue," he said.

CPRail statement

In a statement, CP Rail says of the union:

"Lack of time off is at the heart of its reluctance to negotiate, yet 72 per cent of all engineers and conductors do not take the time off when they are entitled to."

Management employees will now operate a reduced freight service.

The move threatens to snarl carload traffic across the county and impede everything from commuter trains to oil and grain exports.

"Really, the alternatives for Western Canada are very, very few," said Brian Otto with the Barley Council of Canada. "We are landlocked and very dependent on the railroad to move our products and export positions."

Workers say it's not about delays or bottom lines it's about allowing them to schedule their personal lives.

"This is about quality of life. The majority of us are family people and we have children and we just want to be able to live life and work at the same time," said Kennedy. "Right now, you just can't."

Labour and Status of Women Minister Kellie Leitchsays she's disappointed an agreement couldn't be reached, but this strike could be short-lived.

The Conservatives are prepared totable back-to-work legislation in Ottawa today, which, if passed, could force employees back to work within days.