Business briefs: Canada rail strike ends after government threat

OTTAWA, Canada – Canada’s labor minister said Monday the Canadian Pacific Railway strike had ended, with both sides agreeing to resume discussions.

News of the deal came after Canada’s Conservative government threatened to introduce legislation to force an end to the strike by more than 3,000 Teamsters members, saying the strike posed a threat to the economy.

In a surprise news conference, Labor Minister Kellie Leitch welcomed the willingness by both sides to resume talks, a development that had seemed impossible just hours earlier.

The strike by 3,300 locomotive engineers and other train workers began just after midnight Sunday after contract talks failed.

Leitch had said the strike could cost the economy more than $200 million in lost GDP every week.

Teamsters union President Douglas Finnson called the government’s intervention in the strike disappointing and premature. CP Rail supported the move.

GM ignition switch death toll rises to 56

DETROIT – The death toll linked to crashes involving General Motors cars with defective ignition switches has climbed to 56.

The new total, which is four more than last week, was posted Monday on an Internet site by compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg.

Feinberg and his aides are combing through claims filed before a Jan. 31 deadline to determine which are eligible for compensation. Each eligible death claim is worth at least $1 million under guidelines established by Feinberg, who was hired by GM to handle claims and make payments.

As of Friday, his office had received 478 death claims and 3,834 injury claims. Of the injury claims, 87 have been determined eligible for compensation, up from 79 a week earlier.

GM gives 12 executives shares worth millions

DETROIT – General Motors has granted significant amounts of common stock to 12 executives, including CEO Mary Barra and President Dan Ammann, as part of their incentive compensation, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Barra will receive 79,639 shares of GM stock that will be vested over the next three years, meaning she can’t sell them until those particular dates.

At the stock’s Friday closing price of $37.62, those shares would be worth about $3 million.

Barra, whose base 2014 salary is $1.6 million, could earn about $14.4 million based on performance targets. The company will disclose details of its top five executives’ pay this spring when it releases a proxy statement.

Ammann received 29,865 shares of the restricted stock.