Union claims CPKC violating federal law by using contractors during signal workers' strike

Union claims CPKC violating federal law by using contractors during signal workers' strike

Railway and union to meet with industrial relations board Monday

Approximately 300 signals and communications employees with Calgary-based CPKC have now been on strike for two weeks.

But as the labour dispute continues, the union has accused the railway of using contractors to do the work of the employees on strike, potentially contravening federal legislation.

On Monday, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and CPKC will have a hearing with the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB).

As part of the complaint submission, Jason Sommer, the union’s senior general chairman, said the union provided CIRB with evidence that contractors have been completing work above and beyond what is allowed by the Canada Labour Code following changes made in 2025 that prohibit the use of replacement workers.

“A lot of our members, instead of focusing their attention on picketing, are instead going out to locations that are publicly available in public view and with their cellphones are taking videos and photographs of these third-party contractors doing our work,” said Sommer.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the CIRB confirmed that a hearing on one of the complaints submitted by IBEW is scheduled for Monday, and that the remaining complaints related to this matter are also under investigation.

Sommer said that while the CIRB process is still unfolding, there are growing concerns from those employees still on strike.

“It sends a clear message to the union and to our members, [CPKC’s] employees, that they're not interested in bargaining in good faith,” said Sommer.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for CPKC said that the company will be participating in Monday’s hearing.

When asked if the railway is using contractors to carry out the work of striking employees, the company would only say that it has “maintained safe and efficient railway operations across Canada in compliance with all applicable laws, including the Canada Labour Code” and that includes “signals and communications work.”

The legislation at the heart of the IBEW complaints came into force in 2025. Bill C-58 made changes to the Canada Labour Code, making it so that federally regulated companies who brought in replacement workers could face fines of $100,000 a day.

The CIRB confirms that since it was brought into place, only eight complaints have been filed, and none of those complaints have resulted in fines.

Rafael Gomez, the director for the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto, said it is not surprising that the full extent of the legislation has not been used just yet.

“You're looking at a fraction, about three per cent of collective agreements that aren't resolved at the bargaining table,” said Gomez. “Of those, not all of them are actually technically in a strike position. And it’s a rare event, having replacement workers come in during one of those [strikes].”

Audrey Farrier, a labour relations professor at the University of Calgary, said that there are a number of items to consider before it’s clear that replacement workers are being used to cover for striking union staff.

"Companies can continue to use existing staff who were hired prior to the notice to bargain to perform struck work,” said Farrier. “But only if they normally worked at that specific location. They can use pre-existing contractors who were already doing work for the employer before the notice to bargain may continue, but only in the same manner and extent as before.”

Farrier adds that replacement workers can also be used to prevent imminent threats to life, health, safety, or serious environmental and property damage, something that could fall under the role of the signals and communications employees currently on strike.

Michael King is an assignment producer with CBC Calgary. He joined CBC in 2026 after eight years with Global News as a digital journalist and producer, focusing on breaking news, municipal affairs and the aviation sector.