Unifor local that does safety, maintenance for CP Rail votes to strike if needed

CALGARY — One of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.’s unions has voted in favour of a strike if the two sides can’t reach agreement on a new contract.

Unifor local 101R has set a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 15.

Negotiations between the company (TSX:CP) and the union began in September and the strike vote was held last week.

Unifor says its members voted 97 per cent in favour of going on strike if necessary.

The union local represents about 1,650 CP workers across the country who perform safety inspections, brake tests and some repair and maintenance work at the railway.

Their current contract expired at the end of last year.

Unifor is Canada’s largest private-sector union, with more than 305,000 members in various economic sectors including 12,500 in the rail industry.