Canadian Pacific, Teamsters reach deal

Ottawa -- Striking Teamsters workers have reached a tentative deal with Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and will be back to work within days, the union said Wednesday.

Details of the tentative three-year contract, affecting 3,200 maintenance workers, will not be released until a ratification vote is held, the Teamsters said in a news release.

The workers have been off the job since May 15 and without a contract since Dec. 31, 2006. They plan to return to work by Monday as a sign of good faith, the union said.

Before they walked off the job, the workers sought a 13.5 percent wage increase. Canadian Pacific originally offered 10.3 percent.

The two sides met with a federal mediator in Ottawa Sunday and Monday.

The freight carrier, of Calgary, Alberta, is Canada's second-largest rail company after Canadian National Railway Co.

Montreal-based Canadian National had its own strike in February when the United Transportation Union, representing conductors and yard staff, struck for 15 days.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.