(The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference issued the following on September 27, 2010.)
OTTAWA Despite the insistence shown by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) to negotiate, a strike or lockout at Canadian National (CN) could be inevitable. Either party could now serve 72 hours notice to commence action.
The TCRC represents some 2,700 train conductors, yardmen and traffic coordinators who have been without a work contract since July 22. CN requested conciliation after only six days of negotiation, starting the countdown to a strike/lockout situation. CN's continued unwillingness to negotiate has been very frustrating.
Last-chance meetings are being held this week in an attempt to break the deadlock, but union negotiators are pessimistic as to the results that will eventually arise from these discussions.
"We are returning to the bargaining table with an open attitude," explains Bryan Boechler, spokesperson for the Teamsters Union in this matter. "However, we will not compromise with respect to health and safety issues."
Ballots were sent to TCRC members, and the results that came back were clear: 90% voted in favour of a work stoppage if no agreement can be achieved.
The report filed by the conciliator some time ago has had no effect whatsoever on the course of the bargaining process as the conciliator basically rejected the union's concerns regarding the rail carrier's intention to increase the workload of employees already working up to eighteen hours per day. Furthermore, the extremely high number of grievances pending between the employer and the union points to a culture that is quickly deteriorating.
The Teamsters Union is concerned by the prospect of reliving what the locomotive engineers went through in December 2009. Let us recall that CN then broke off talks and forced the union to strike (which at once triggered the federal government to threaten to enact special back-to-work legislation). Afterward, an arbitrator was appointed to the case.
"A strike is inevitable if CN decides to go ahead and unilaterally modify the working conditions that impact the health and safety of our members," warns Mr. Boechler. "We cannot and will not sit idly by and allow the company to jeopardize the lives of the workers and the general Canadian population."
Arbitration is not a viable option. In 2007, an arbitrator was appointed to decide the contract for this same group. The TCRC is not willing to accept two consecutive arbitrated settlements that fail to address our safety and health concerns.
Everything now appears to depend on CN's attitude: Will the company show itself willing to bargain in good faith or will it persist in wanting to impose unacceptable working conditions?
Background information to media available here: http://tiny.cc/ww303
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The Teamsters Union represents 125,000 members in Canada in all trades. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated, has 1.4 million members in North America.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference represents more than 14,000 workers in all trades of the rail industry throughout the country.
(The following story by John D. Boyd appeared on The Journal of Commerce website on September 27, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. Canadian rail shippers are anxiously waiting to see if Canadian National Railway and 2,700 union workers in the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference can reach a mediated agreement and head off a potential strike or lockout.
The last contract for the TCRCs conductors, yardmen and traffic coordinators ran out in July, and the union in late August sent out strike ballots to members after negotiations broke down between the union and CN over a new contract.
The two sides were slated to meet Sept. 27 with government-appointed mediator Jacques Lessard. But shippers say theyve heard union members gave their negotiators a strike mandate, and now either side could take action with 72-hours notice starting early on Sept. 29.
CN spokesman Mark Hallman said neither side has issued such a notice, and the company said that in order to avoid a labor disruption it is prepared to accept a three-year status quo agreement that was recommended in a report by a conciliation official. CN notified the federal labor minister and the union of that position on Sept. 10, said Hallman.
Last week, the Canadian Industrial Transportation Association told Labor Minister Lisa Raitt by letter that rail service disruptions are damaging to the Canadian economy in general and Canadian export industries in particular. Even the threat of a strike causes disruption as foreign buyers move to other sources of supply.
This, CITA said, marks the fourth strike or serious threat of a work stoppage by operating employees at CN since 2005. Late last year, CN and its locomotive engineers, also under the TCRC, squared off in a dispute that led to a 21-day strike and the threat of government intervention.
CNs Hallman said that while the carrier would have preferred to negotiate changes to union work rules to gain flexibility to further improve customer service, the company, in the interest of reaching a settlement, is prepared to accept the recommendations contained in a Sept. 7 report.
It would contain no work rule changes, would be retroactive to July 23 and include an immediate wage hike of 2.4 percent, to be followed by a 2.6 percent raise in 2011and 3 percent in 2012.
Hallman also said that CN, as is prudent, has established a contingency service plan in the event of a labor disruption. However, CITA said it will be impossible for CN to sustain normal service levels during a strike or lockout, and asked the government to take early action to head off a work stoppage.
Labor minister Raitt has also said that obviouly the CN has issues since this would be the 3rd time in less than 5 years that legislation would have to be used
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Gentlemen, we all must realize that neither side has any monopoly on sons of bitches. C.D. Howe (in Washington to resolve a shipping dispute)
Labor minister Raitt has also said that obviouly the CN has issues since this would be the 3rd time in less than 5 years that legislation would have to be used
Negotiations between CN Rail and the union representing most of its employees are at a standstill as mediation talks between the two are set to expire at midnight Tuesday, paving the way for a strike or lockout, the Vancouver Sun reports.
Either side can give a 72-hour notice to start a strike or a lockout when the deadline passes, put in place six days after the last collective bargaining agreement expired in July.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents 2,700 conductors, traffic co-ordinators and yardmen, has said that 90 per cent of its members voted for a work stoppage if an agreement can't be reached.
Union spokesman Bryan Boechler said Tuesday their negotiators will continue to try to avoid an interruption. "We have no intentions of serving a strike notice," he said. "We're more than willing to carry on at the table."
CN spokesman Mark Hallman said in an email that the company "has established a contingency service plan to operate the railway safely and as efficiently as possible in the event of a labour disruption in Canada."
At issue are job cuts of up to 30 per cent of the company's brakemen as well as a streamlining of yard and road crews that Boechler said would probably lead to another 200 terminations.
"We're not prepared to give these concessions," said Boechler. In addition, the agreement drafted by conciliation commissioner Michael Bendel made no mention of a union proposal that would see its scheduling switch from having employees on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to more consistent hours.
Hallman said that the union continues "to make demands that would impede CN's productivity. Getting a deal will require some union flexibility and give and take."
CN said it supports Bendel's "status quo" offer which would continue the expired agreement for another three years.
(This item appeared Sept. 29, 2010, in the Vancouver Sun.)
(Reuters circulated the following on September 28, 2010.)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia The union representing 2,700 train conductors and other workers at Canadian National Railway Co Ltd will not serve strike notice unless the company is intent on making drastic changes to their labor agreement, a union spokesman said on Tuesday.
Negotiators from the Teamsters Rail Conference, representing CN's train conductors, yardmen and traffic coordinators, and from Canada's biggest railroad are in talks to stave off a work stoppage that could come as early as Friday.
"It is very unlikely that we will serve strike notice unless they change the terms of conditions," Teamsters spokesman Bryan Boechler told Reuters. He said the union's willingness to go on strike will depend how drastic the changes are that CN wants to make to the labor contract.
"Nobody wins with a strike," Boechler added.
On Monday the Teamsters issued a statement saying the union was pessimistic about the outcome of the talks. It accused CN of starting the countdown to a strike or lockout after it requested conciliation after only six days of talks.
CN said in a statement on Tuesday that it still hopes to sign a new contract without labor disruption through talks guided by a federal government-appointed mediator.
But getting a deal "will require some union flexibility and give and take," CN said.
Ninety percent of union members recently voted in favor of authorizing a strike if no agreement is reached. The two sides must now give 72 hours' notice of a strike or lockout.
The workers have been without a work contract since July 22.
Boechler said the union received a proposal from CN on Monday night, and handed its counter-proposal to the company on Tuesday. He said it hoped to hear back from CN later in the day.
CN said it wants to negotiate changes to union work rules but also wants labor talks over swiftly. As a result, it is prepared to accept the conciliator's recommendation of a three-year status quo agreement with no work rule changes if the union "endorses the deal and ratifies it quickly".
The union said that arbitration is not a viable option after an arbitrator was appointed to decide their last contract three years ago.
The union "is not willing to accept two consecutive arbitrated settlements that fail to address our safety and health concerns", it said in Monday's statement.
CN said it has set up a contingency service plan in the event of a labor disruption. No CN operations in the United States will be affected, the company said.
CN's stock was 95 Canadian cents, or 1.4 percent, lower at C$64.99 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday afternoon. Stock of smaller rival Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd was 70 Canadian cents, or 1 percent, lower at C$63.30.
(The following story by John D. Boyd appeared on The Journal of Commerce website on September 28, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. Canadian National Railway offered new contract terms that include cutting the crew size on some trains, said a spokesman for the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, and the union is preparing a response.
TCRC spokesman Bryan Boechler told The Journal of Commerce that while either side could trigger a labor action - a strike or a lockout - after giving 72 hours notice, "we have no intention of serving strike notice."
The TCRC represents about 2,700 conductors, train yard workers and traffic coordinators in the talks.
A CN spokesman said federally mediated negotiations are continuing Sept. 28, after they resumed the day before for the first time in weeks to replace a contract that expired in July. A formal cooling-off period ends just after midnight.
CN previously indicated it was willing to accept the recommendations of a federally appointed conciliator, who proposed a "status quo" three-year replacement contract earlier this month.
Boechler said CN has now proposed eliminating the brakeman position, which helps make up a three-man crew for local and long-distance trains that change freight cars on the route. That would leave those trains operating with a conductor and locomotive engineer. He said CN also proposed breaking down distinctions between road and yard crews.
The TCRC on Sept. 27 said more than 90 percent of workers under the contract voted to give their negotiators strike authority if no agreement can be reached with the railroad. However, Boechler said union bargainers are "more than willing to stay in Montreal" and keep at the bargaining table to work out contract terms.
The union also raised the possibility that CN could at some point leave the talks and pointed to last year's breakdown of negotiations between CN and TCRC's locomotive engineers. That led to a 21-day strike and a move in Parliament to intervene before the two sides agreed to arbitration.
The railroad spokesman said on Sept. 27 that CN hopes to achieve a contract settlement without a labor disruption, and considers a prompt conclusion to negotiations "in the best interest of the company, its employees and customers."
