CN Rail faces strike vote by Unifor

MONTREAL – A strike vote by 4,800 Canadian National Railway employees represented by Unifor will begin as early as next week, with the union saying it is aiming for an end-of-March strike deadline after the failure of five months of contract talks.

Unifor President Jerry Dias says the union is setting a strike deadline close to the end of next month to give CN customers time to make alternate arrangements.

CN spokesman Mark Hallman said in an email that the strike vote is both unfortunate and unnecessary.

“CN believes a negotiated settlement regarding its Unifor employees’ wages and terms of employment remains the best solution,” Hallman said.

But the email also stressed that the railway is not prepared to negotiate cash contributions to the union’s political and community fund.

“CN’s principles will not be shaken by a month-long process to seek a strike mandate that will raise uncertainty in the company’s customer base,” the railway said.

Dias told a Montreal news conference that CN is either looking for a conflict or it believes that the government will interfere in the collective bargaining process.

“I can tell you that the government will not be finding the solution with CN,” he said. “Unifor is not going to accept a settlement by the government … we will accept an agreement only after it is ratified by our members and reached at the bargaining table.

When asked later to clarify his comment, Dias stressed that the union would not accept government interference.

He also said that profitable companies like CN and CP have a responsibility to communities where they make their money.

“CP agreed to a fund over and above the wages that will help the communities,” Dias noted. “It’s unfortunate that CN does not recognize this as an opportunity.”

His remarks came after a meeting of union workplace representatives at CN (TSX:CNR) and CP Rail (TSX:CP).

On Feb. 14, Unifor reached an agreement with CP Rail which made a number of improvements, including rail safety and working conditions.

The group met to review the contents of the CP contract package, which has been unanimously approved by Unifor leaders. The 1,800 Unifor members working at CP will voted on the package over the next two weeks.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story: An earlier version said only 1,800 Unifor members at CN will vote