More than 3,000 workers at Canadian National Railway including train conductors and yard workers could go on strike as early as Tuesday, May 30.
Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) gave the railway 72-hours notice of its plan to go on strike as of 4 a.m. May 30.
TCRC workers have been working without a contract since last year.
The two sides have been involved in negotiations for several months but
TCRC now claims that CN unilaterally imposed new work rules “that could permanently and irreparably impact workers.”
“The union had no choice but to issue a strike notice in order to prevent this,” TCRC said in a statement.
CN said May 28 it would continue to negotiate with TCRC representatives in a bid to avert a strike.
The Montreal-based railway company said it willing to use binding arbitration to reach an agreement.
“We remain optimistic that we can reach an agreement without a labor disruption,” said CN chief operating officer Mike Cory said in a statement.
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