Bargaining continues to be a painstakingly slow process with the CPKC. Our coalition met once again with the Carrier on August 26, 2025, in Kansas City. At that meeting, the Carrier maintained its position that the Unions must “buy” our way up to the national pattern agreement terms through conceding local work rules. As you can imagine, this is a non-starter for us. The coalition is resolute that we are not willing to concede on any provision just to obtain what has become the pattern of the industry (17.5% over 5 years). We are similarly at odds with the Carrier regarding sick leave. The Carrier remains reluctant to provide what nearly all other roads in the industry now provide – a minimum of four sick days per year. This remains to be a key item of dispute in this round as we do not intend to bury our heads in the sand and pretend our CPKC members are somehow different than all others. They get sick like other railroaders. They have family illnesses like other railroaders. They have emergency health concerns that arise, just like other railroaders. There is simply no justification for them not having paid sick leave like other railroaders.
The coalition meets again with the CPKC on October 21-22, in Kansas City. We are cautiously optimistic that more progress will be made at that time.
