Canadian National Railway is reporting “normal” rail operations after its signals and communications workers walked out on strike starting Saturday.
Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which represents about 750 CN employees across Canada, served the railway with strike notice last Wednesday and started their strike Saturday morning, the company said.
IBEW members at CN install and maintain signals and trackside equipment, including the warning systems at railroad-highway crossings.
CN said Monday its “operational contingency plan” is now in place, which “allows the company to maintain a normal level of safe rail operations across Canada and serve its customers for as long as required.”
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Talks between the company and union are still continuing, a CN spokesperson said via email Monday. An IBEW representative wasn’t available via email.
“While we are disappointed in the current situation, we remain open to resolving the outstanding issues through an agreement or through binding arbitration,” CN chief operating officer Rob Reilly said in a letter to IBEW members dated Monday.
The IBEW’s previous five-year agreement with CN, ratified by members in 2017, expired at the end of 2021. Reilly, in Monday’s letter, said CN has “met or exceeded every one of the union’s demands in an effort to reach an agreement prior to the strike deadline” but its last offer was rejected.
Reilly said CN’s last offer had called for a 10 per cent improvement in wages over three years; improved scheduling “which will ensure two consecutive days off”; and overtime procedures “now based on seniority,” among other changes involving benefits and worker expense allowances.
CN’s last service-stopping strike took place in 2019, when the company’s Teamster-led conductors and yard workers went on strike for eight days. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
