Canadian National Railway and the union representing its mechanics and intermodal and clerical workers have reached a tentative labour deal, averting a potential strike.
CN, Unifor Local 100 and Unifor Council 4000 on Monday announced they have reached four new tentative collective agreements to cover about 3,000 railway employees, who had voted earlier this month in favour of strike action.
The employees were in a position to strike as early as Tuesday (March 21) if 72 hours’ notice had been given — but Unifor said in a separate statement Saturday its team had decided to continue negotiating with CN in Montreal through the weekend.
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The company and union both said no details of the tentative deals would be released publicly until ratification votes are completed. Unifor said Monday those votes “will be held in the near future.”
CN CEO Tracy Robinson said in a statement Monday the company is “very pleased to have reached these tentative agreements” and “has always been committed to achieving negotiated settlements to improve the conditions of this important group of employees.”
Unifor Local 100 represents skilled trades in CN’s mechanical shops, while Council 4000 represents intermodal and clerical workers, mechanics and excavator operators.
Despite the number of employees who would potentially be off the job in the event of either a strike or lockout, CN had said March 6 it would not expect any impact on operations as it had “contingency plans in place and the safe operations of our railway will continue.”
“These negotiations were fraught with challenges, including demands for concessions by CN,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said in a separate release Monday.
“With the solid support of the membership, the bargaining committees were able to stand up to this large profitable company and persevere to secure the tentative agreements.”
Unifor said its bargaining committees had been in talks with CN since October. The collective agreements for the affected employees all expired at the end of December. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
