Image Credit: CP Rail

A CP train conductor who was fired over $80 during a stay in Chase has won his job back.

According to a Labour Arbitration decision, conductor Troy Woodhouse lost his job in August 2019 when he filled a time card incorrectly which netted him an extra $80 pay.

The decision says he added an extra five minutes to the time card when his train from Revelstoke arrived in Chase. The extra five minutes pushed him over a 10-hour working day and increased his wages by $80.

CP Rail, which made more than $6 billion in 2021, claimed that Woodhouse "knowingly entered" the incorrect off-duty time which triggered a "fraudulent" $80 payment and following an investigation, fired him.

Woodhouse claimed he "genuinely" thought he had filled the card out correctly.

Months after CP Rail decided that as a matter of "managerial leniency" the company would re-hire Woodhouse but he refused.

The company then decided to "unilaterally reinstate" Woodhouse and left several messages but Woodhouse never called back.

It's unclear what happened in-between time but almost one year later, Woodhouse's union, Teamsters Canada Rail started procedures to get his job back.

However, then CP Rail refused.

The company said Woodhouse had "failed to seize the opportunity."

The union argued Woodhouse had moved out of the province and he could not be reached.

The Arbitrator ruled that because the company had offered to reinstate him, it saw no reason why Woodhouse couldn't return to CP Rail.

While the Arbitrator ruled for CP Rail to reinstate the conductor it didn't seem convinced the $80 error was a genuine mistake.

"I find that (Woodhouse) initially placed himself in a position which attracted significant discipline. He submitted a time claim correctly and then changed it incorrectly to attract an $80 over 10 hours payment despite the clear wording of the collective agreement," the Arbitrator ruled. "He chose not to consult with his locomotive Engineer when he changed his claim."

Regardless, the Arbitrator ruled for the company to reinstate the conductor along with four months compensation for the period when Woodhouse had refused reinstatement.

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