A strike at Canadian National Railway has been averted, at least for the time being.
CN officials announced late yesterday that a new tentative labour agreement had been reached with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, the union representing train conductors and yard workers.
Earlier this week, roughly 3,000 CN workers represented by Teamsters served notice of their intention to begin strike action on Feb. 8.
The workers have been without a contract since last July.
The new agreement, which has yet to be ratified by unionized workers, averts a Feb. 8 strike that would have disrupted operations across CN’s Canadian rail network.
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“We commend the leadership of the TCRC-CTY for reaching consensus with the company and averting a possible strike,” CN vice-president Jim Vena said in a Feb. 5 new release issued by the railway.
“This will ensure continued service to our customers in a very challenging environment where extreme winter conditions have hampered CN operations and affected service levels.”
Details of the three-year labour contract are being withheld pending ratification.
Teamsters Canada members rejected a previous labour agreement that had been reached last October between the union and the railway.
That agreement was rejected by 61 percent of the train conductors, trainmen and traffic co-ordinators who took part in a vote, according to Teamsters Canada.
One of the key issues that has impeded ratification of a new agreement is the issue of rest times for train crews, the union said.
Teamsters has yet to announce publicly when a ratification vote will be conducted on the latest agreement.
