About 1,800 locomotive engineers at Canadian National Railway have ratified a new five-year labour agreement.
CN announced May 23 that engineers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) ratified a new collective agreement that runs to Dec. 31, 2022.
Details of the agreement were not announced, but a CN news release said the deal includes wage and benefit improvements in each year of the contract.
According to CN, benefits are “in line with similar contracts in the industry.”
CN said the new contract also modifies certain work rules, but declined to offer details.
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“This new contract demonstrates CN’s on-going commitment to working together with our employees and the TCRC to address workplace issues in a respectful and mutually beneficial manner,” said Mike Cory, CN’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer.
“CN is very pleased to have renewed collective agreements with TCRC without any impact on the service we provide to customers and the North American economy.”
The announcement comes as CN’s main rival, Canadian Pacific Railway, awaits the outcome of a similar ratification vote involving more than 3,000 engineers and train conductors, also represented by TCRC.
The ratification vote at CP started May 18 and concludes Friday.
The CP vote is being conducted by the Canadian Industrial Relations Board with vote results to “be disclosed at a time and place to be determined by the board.”
Officials at TCRC have recommended that its members reject CP’s contract offer.
The union says CP’s offer fails to address “workers’ issues and … underestimates workers’ anger with the company’s labour relations policy and management practices.”
“Fatigue is a critical issue with CP. You can’t safely work in the rail industry if you’ve been awake for too long,” said TCRC president Doug Finnson.
TCRC members at CP are also being offered less pay than TCRC members at CN, he said.
Teamsters officials have indicated that they will try to resume negotiations with CP if the company’s final offer is rejected.
If necessary, however, workers will exercise their right to strike after 72 hours’ advance notice.
“Teamsters are ready to negotiate with CP but we cannot bargain alone,” Finnson said.
“CP has to be ready to settle outstanding issues and to provide workers with a good and fair collective agreement.”
On April 20, federal Labour Minister Patricia Hajdu — on the advice of federal mediators — agreed to CP’s request to order a vote on a final offer to TCRC members.
Hajdu’s order averted a strike that was set to begin at CP on April 21.
brian.cross@producer.com
