CN actually had near-settlement with Unifor on
employee matters in December
2014
Binding arbitration proper forum to address
Unifor's recently changed bargaining demands
MONTREAL, Feb. 21, 2015
/CNW/ - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI) expressed disappointment today
with Unifor's recent claims that the company is not bargaining in
good faith and is trying to force its agenda on the union through a
lockout of the union's 4,800 members.
CN had nearly reached an agreement with Unifor on employee
matters in late December 2014, when
the union unfortunately first introduced its demand that CN make
cash contributions to support Unifor's political and community
action fund – a demand the company will not accept because it is
not prepared to allow financial matters related to the union to
take precedence over the interests of its employees.
Unifor, which had not even asked for a strike vote until this
week despite six months of negotiations and the fact its contract
with CN expired on Dec. 31, 2014,
further deviated from this near-settlement when it unreasonably
increased many of its demands after negotiating a tentative labour
agreement with Canadian Pacific last weekend.
Claude Mongeau, president and
chief executive of CN, said: "The fact that CN has amicably
negotiated three collective agreements recently with the Teamsters
union -- and reached an early contract renewal with the United
Steelworkers prior to its agreement expiring at the end of December
-- clearly shows that CN can find common ground to benefit its
employees.
"If Unifor believes it is advocating the right deal pattern,
then the proper forum to get a fair hearing for such a deal pattern
is binding arbitration. An independent arbitrator can consider all
the facts impartially and decide in fairness what terms are most in
line with the interests of CN employees represented by Unifor.
"The issues have never been clearer and the stakes are high now.
Failing a negotiated settlement or Unifor's agreement to move
forward with binding arbitration this weekend, CN will prepare
itself to exercise its right under the Canada Labour Code to
lockout Unifor's 4,800 members effective 2300 hours, Monday, Feb. 23. We will deploy our labour
disruption contingency plan, with trained management personnel
performing the work of Unifor members, in order to protect service
to our customers to the best of our ability." Mongeau concluded: "A
work stoppage is in no one's interest. Our employees deserve to
stay on their jobs, CN's customers need to be served, and
Canada' reputation as a trading
nation should not be put at risk by a labour dispute that can be
avoided. In the spirit of good faith bargaining, we urge Unifor to
return to the bargaining table this weekend to settle our
differences to avoid a lockout."
Unifor represents approximately 4,800 CN employees in
mechanical, intermodal, clerical and other areas of the company's
business in Canada.
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