MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway and two Unifor unions, Local 100 and Council 4000, have reached tentative agreements, the railroad and Unifor announced Monday, averting a possible strike.
The agreements cover approximately 3,000 CN employees in mechanical, intermodal, facility management, and clerical positions across Canada, the railroad said. Local 100 represents the mechanical workers and Council 4000 the other employees. Details of the agreements will not be released until they are ratified. Unifor said ratification votes will be held “in the near future.”
“We are very pleased to have reached these tentative agreements,” CN CEO Tracy Robinson said in a statement. “CN has always been committed to achieving negotiated settlements to improve the conditions of this important group of employees as we continue our essential work moving the North American economy. We look forward to future collaboration with Unifor.”
The unions had voted in favor of a strike by wide margins earlier this month [see “Two unions vote for strike …,” Trains News Wire, March 6, 2023].
“These negotiations were fraught with challenges, including demands for concessions by CN,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a press release. “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.”
Can we cut the BS from these union bosses about concessions…every business wants concessions every single time they have to negotiate new contracts. This is not earth shattering news…and some of those concessions are warranted to put the union on even par with other unions, not necessarily those in the same profession, but comparable.