Canadian National Railway says it’s not expecting any impact on its operations if its unionized mechanics and clerical staff are involved in a work stoppage, depending on the outcome of strike votes starting this week.
Unifor represents about 3,000 CN workers in mechanical, intermodal and clerical positions across the country through five collective agreements, all of which expired at the end of December. The union said it’s been in five bargaining sessions with the company since last Oct. 19.
CN, in a statement Friday, said it tabled a “comprehensive offer” with Unifor last Tuesday, after the union filed a notice of dispute with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) on Dec. 16.
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Montreal-based CN said its offer “includes increases in net pay and benefit” and “resolves outstanding issues between the parties” while providing “improved working conditions for all represented employees.”
But Unifor, in a separate release Friday, said it has broken off talks with CN and plans to start conducting strike votes among eligible members “early next week.”
CN said it “do(es) not expect any labour action to impact our operations” in the event of a Unifor-related labour disruption.
The union said “some progress” had been made at bargaining sessions in October and November but it filed for conciliation via FMCS “to help move the process along.”
Dave Kissack, Unifor Council 4000’s president, said Friday the union “tabled its economic proposals and instead of showing respect to our members’ demands, the company completely ignored them and instead put forth an offer demanding significant concessions.”
“Although progress has been achieved in certain areas, the concessions proposed by the employer must be withdrawn to reach an agreement,” Cory Will, president of Unifor Local 100, which represents skilled trades in CN’s mechanical shops, said in the same release.
“In this climate of massive profits CN is proposing a multitude of concessions demonstrating just how out of touch they are,” said Lana Payne, Unifor’s national president.
This turn in CN’s talks with Unifor comes just after the union’s members at rival Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) completed their vote in favour of ratifying a new two-year contract, expiring Dec. 31, 2024.
Unifor Local 101 represents about 1,200 employees at CP handling maintenance services and safety inspections on locomotives and freight cars and producing track, freight car and locomotive components.
“From the onset, the company demanded significant concessions from the union,” Rick Raso, president for Local 101, said Thursday in a separate release. “While successfully fighting back concessions we are also able to secure the doubling of the shift premium. This is a significant victory. This type of increase has not occurred in decades.”
“Ratifying this agreement is a positive step for our mechanical employees and another example of CP’s willingness to negotiate in good faith with our union partners,” CP CEO Keith Creel said Thursday in a separate release. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
