With Feb. 23
lockout deadline looming, CN advises customers it may have to
deploy labour contingency plan
If Unifor agrees to let specially-trained
employees work during a dispute, CN will protect electric-powered
Montreal commuter trains
MONTREAL, Feb. 22, 2015 /CNW/ - CN (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI)
met the leadership of Unifor for several hours in Ottawa today with officials of the
government's Federal Conciliation and Mediation Service but was
unable to negotiate all terms of a new contract. However, the two
parties will meet again first thing tomorrow morning in
Ottawa to resume collective
bargaining.
In the circumstances, CN reiterates that binding arbitration may
ultimately be the best way to avoid a lockout of the union's 4,800
members at 2300 hours local time on Feb.
23.
Claude Mongeau, president and
chief executive, said: "CN met the leadership of Unifor in
Ottawa today for several hours in
the presence of top federal government conciliators but
unfortunately was unable to fully reach common ground with the
union on a negotiated settlement. The parties will resume talks
tomorrow morning in Ottawa. We
reiterate that binding arbitration may be the best way to prevent a
labour dispute with Unifor members tomorrow evening. Arbitration is
the proper, impartial forum to decide in fairness what terms are
most in line with the interest of CN employees represented by
Unifor.
"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. These settlements clearly show that CN can find
common ground to benefit its employees."
In the absence of a negotiated settlement or agreement on
binding arbitration by tomorrow evening, CN will deploy its labour
contingency plan, with trained management personnel safely
performing the work of Unifor members, to protect service to the
best of its ability. CN has begun to advise its customers in
Canada of that possibility.
CN also said it is prepared to supervise specially-trained
employees represented by Unifor who maintain electric-powered
Montreal commuter trains if the
union agrees to allow them to work during any dispute. That would
ensure no disruption of those commuter train operations.
Mongeau said: "We are again urging Unifor to see that binding
arbitration is the most sensible way to settle our differences. 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's reputation as a trading
nation should not be put at risk by a labour dispute that can be
avoided."
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