Unifor continues to reject fair CN settlement
offer
Barring an agreement, CN plans to implement
targeted work rule changes on Friday, Feb.
20, 2015
MONTREAL, Feb. 18, 2015
/CNW/ - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) said today the Unifor union
in Canada continues to reject a
fair company offer to reach a new collective agreement in line with
settlements it has negotiated with three other unions. A key
stumbling block is Unifor's demand that CN contribute cash to the
union's political and community action fund – as a matter of
principle, CN is not prepared to allow such a union agenda to take
precedence over the interests of its employees.
Unifor represents approximately 4,800 CN employees in
mechanical, intermodal, clerical and other areas of the company's
business.
CN's competitive settlement offer to Unifor on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, called for a three-year
agreement, with three per cent wage increases in each year and
benefit improvements fully in line with what the company negotiated
recently with the United Steelworkers (3,000 maintenance-of-way
employees), Teamsters Canada locomotive engineers (1,800
employees), and the Teamsters Canada-Rail Canada Traffic
Controllers (180 employees).
Unifor, in rejecting CN's settlement offer, has also refused to
set aside its demand that CN make cash contributions to a union
fund for political and community action.
Claude Mongeau, CN president and chief executive officer, said:
"This is an issue of principle for us. CN is prepared to
co-invest in charitable causes, but we are not prepared to support
such a union agenda.
"We are offering several alternatives, including binding
arbitration, to keep the process moving forward toward resolution.
We will continue to use our best efforts to reach an agreement with
Unifor.
"However, the company has now decided to modify some terms of
the Unifor collective agreements, as permitted by the Canada Labour
Code at this stage of the bargaining process, starting as of
Friday, Feb. 20, 2015. The targeted
changes will help advance the Company's objectives of improving
customer service and increasing efficiency. "
Simultaneously, CN will increase Unifor members' wages by two
per cent, which is greater than the current inflation rate of 1.5
per cent. While CN has signed agreements with higher wage patterns,
those were reached before the economy started softening and
reflected the value to CN of deals reached amicably, without the
threat of disruption or potential strike action.
The company believes a negotiated deal remains the best solution
and continues to be committed to bargain in good faith for a
renewal of the collective agreements as soon as possible.
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than
C$250 billion worth of goods annually
for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource
products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail
network spanning Canada and
mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its
operating railway subsidiaries -- serves the cities and ports of
Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New
Orleans, and Mobile, Ala.,
and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth,
Minn./Superior, Wis., and
Jackson, Miss., with connections
to all points in North America.
For more information on CN, visit the Company's website at
www.cn.ca.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information included in this news release is
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under
Canadian securities laws. CN cautions that, by their nature, these
forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not
materialize and that current economic conditions render such
assumptions, although reasonable at the time they were made,
subject to greater uncertainty. Such forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
results or performance of the Company or the rail industry to be
materially different from the outlook or any future results or
performance implied by such statements.
Important risk factors that could affect the forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, the effects of general
economic and business conditions, industry competition, inflation,
currency and interest rate fluctuations, changes in fuel prices,
legislative and/or regulatory developments, compliance with
environmental laws and regulations, actions by regulators, various
events which could disrupt operations, including natural events
such as severe weather, droughts, floods and earthquakes, labor
negotiations and disruptions, environmental claims, uncertainties
of investigations, proceedings or other types of claims and
litigation, risks and liabilities arising from derailments, and
other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with
securities regulators in Canada
and the United States. Reference
should be made to "Management's Discussion and Analysis" in CN's
annual and interim reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F
filed with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators, available on
CN's website, for a summary of major risks.
CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking
statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or
changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable Canadian
securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking
statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional
updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any
other forward-looking statement.
SOURCE CN