TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Rail-transport-dependent industries served by Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway Company  on Monday sighed in relief after labour union Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) called off strike action that started Sunday in favour of voluntary arbitration.

Four collective agreements covering about 3 800 running trades employees expired on December 31 and negotiations between the union and CP broke down after negotiators failed to agree on concessionary demands.

The federal government would appoint an arbitrator.

According to TCRC, one of the significant sticking points was fatigue management and the necessity to implement broad-based and effective fatigue countermeasures for the rail workers.

The federal government on Sunday threatened to introduce legislation early Monday morning to force workers back to work; however, the strike was suspended before this happened.

“Our preference is to negotiate these improvements through collective bargaining and the worst thing that could happen is a legislated process. These issues are far too important to our members to have a legislated process decide the issue.

“Consequently, the better option is to use a fair mediation and arbitration dispute resolution in front of an independent arbitrator, where we can demonstrate that our plan is a proven fatigue management system, which is highly regarded for a long time and is far superior to what the employer seeks to obtain,” TCRC president Doug Finnson pointed out.

"This decision ensures that both sides will get back to the table and gets us back to moving Canada's economy forward. While we would have preferred a negotiated settlement, this is the right thing to do at this time,” CP CEO Hunter Harrison said in a statement.

CP had on Saturday announced a tentative four-year agreement with about 4 800 Unifor labour union employees. The details of the tentative agreement were being withheld pending ratification by the Unifor membership.

The strike suspension drew relief from rail-dependent industries, including Canada’s mining industry.

The federal Minister of Labour and Status of Women Dr Kellie Leitch on Monday congratulated CP and the TCRC on their agreement to send their outstanding issues to voluntary arbitration.

She worked with the parties in Montreal on February 13, 14 and 15, encouraging them to reach a negotiated agreement or agree to voluntary arbitration.

“I am extremely pleased that CP and the TCRC have decided to send their outstanding issues to voluntary arbitration. This will bring an end to the work stoppage that could have seriously harmed the Canadian economy. I applaud both parties for coming to this agreement that will ensure the continuation of Canada’s rail services,”  Leitch said.

The Mining Association of Canada also welcomed the strike suspension, thanking federal government and all parties for working towards an efficient resolution to the work stoppage, ensuring the continued movement of Canadian mining products to customers around the world and to protect Canadian jobs.

The mining industry was currently the most significant customer of Canada's Class I railways, consistently accounting for both the majority (more than 52% in 2013) of rail freight revenues generated each year and the largest volume (46% in 2013) carried every year. The vast majority of this volume was shipped to international customers, together accounting for about 20% of the total value of Canada's exports.

Canada’s mining industry contributed C$54-billion to Canada's gross domestic product in 2013, employed 380 000 workers in the same year and had paid more than C$71-billion in taxes and royalties to governments over the last decade.