Tentative labor agreement struck between CN and union conductors and yard crews

Earlier today, Class I freight railroad carrier CN said it has reached a tentative agreement with the company’s 3,200 conductors and yard crews working on CN’s mainline and yards in Canada for a new collective agreement.

On November 16, the Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents the 3,200 CN train conductors and railyard coordinators in Canada, gave CN a 72-hour notice of its intention to strike on November 19.

CN Executive Vice President and COO Rob Reilly said at the time that CN would continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair agreement before the strike deadline, adding it offered the union blind arbitration, which was declined. And he added that it encouraged union leadership to accept binding arbitration as an alternative to disrupting the Canadian economy.

That was followed by a November 11 customer letter by CN President and CEO JJ Ruest, which noted that earlier in 2019 CN concluded 11 agreements with unions, representing approximately 7,000 union members. And in ten of those ratified agreements, CN provided annual compensation adjustments better than inflation and added that those agreements improved benefits, including short-term disability, basic life insurance, maternity leave, vision care, and dental; and also included employee share purchase plans.

“The final agreement covers 1,000 independent owner/operators working for CNTL and includes compensation adjustments in line with the other agreements. Moreover, while the current average salary of a Canadian conductor is $114,000 plus benefits, including a defined benefits pension plan, the union is seeking wage and benefit improvements beyond those negotiated this year with Unifor and another bargaining unit of the TCRC,” wrote Ruest.

Ruest concluded his letter by saying that CN is aware of and regrets the impact the strike was having on its customers, supply chain partners, the Canadian economy, trade in general, and the public. He also said that CN was committed to finding an equitable resolution and looked forward to getting back to re-established the reliable service to which its customers are accustomed.

When the 3,200 TCRC-CTY affiliated employees at CN went on strike on November 22, CN said that it had a small pool of qualified managers allowing the company to operate at around 10% of normal service across its 22,000-kilometer long Canadian network safely. It said at the time that very limited amounts of various commodities were moving across Canada, which included container traffic to keep Canadian ports fluid and be able to return to normal operations at the conclusion of the strike.

With a tentative agreement now in place, CN said that this agreement allows for CN employees to return to work at 2:00 PM local times today, with yard assignments starting at 6:00 AM local times tomorrow, with no job action during the ratification period and the results of the ratification votes expected within eight weeks.

“We want to thank our customers for their patience and support and assure them that CN is preparing to resume full rail operations as soon as possible Ruest. “I would also like to personally thank our employees who kept the railroad moving safely at a reduced capacity. CN and its people are committed to moving the North American economy by providing freight service that enables economic growth.”