Unifor National Council 4000 CN and CNTL Bargaining Updates
November 17, 2014
Agreement 5.1, 5.1 Supplemental (Intermodal) and 5.4 Bargaining
The Unifor Council 4000 CN Bargaining Committee has met with CN in Montreal a total of 6 days since the official opening of Unifor/CN bargaining on September 19th, the last being November 4th to 7th. Negotiations thus far have focused only on collective agreement provisions and administrative matters. Benefits and other economic proposals will likely not be addressed until the New Year.
Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy says that talks have been cordial, but the Union’s bargaining committee is concerned with some of the proposals tabled by the Company, including increasing the amount of ‘right of selection’ classifications within the bargaining unit.
“Some of the Company’s proposals in the area of assignment schedules and access to vacant jobs conflict with the Union’s key proposals. We are trying to improve the work-life balance of members and eliminate the ‘various-various’ assignments that are contrary to the terms of our collective agreements, and restore the seniority rights of our membership,” explains Kennedy. “The Company has also said that they want to develop solutions in the attraction and retention challenges they have, but we do not feel that where their mindset is presently at, will adequately address those challenges. Of course there is still lots of time to work through our differences today so we will remain optimistic we can reach a settlement that will meet the expectations of our membership,” says Kennedy.
Bargaining will continue the week of November 24th in Montreal.
The Unifor Council 4000 CN Bargaining Committee has met with CN in Montreal a total of 6 days since the official opening of Unifor/CN bargaining on September 19th, the last being November 4th to 7th. Negotiations thus far have focused only on collective agreement provisions and administrative matters. Benefits and other economic proposals will likely not be addressed until the New Year.
Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy says that talks have been cordial, but the Union’s bargaining committee is concerned with some of the proposals tabled by the Company, including increasing the amount of ‘right of selection’ classifications within the bargaining unit.
“Some of the Company’s proposals in the area of assignment schedules and access to vacant jobs conflict with the Union’s key proposals. We are trying to improve the work-life balance of members and eliminate the ‘various-various’ assignments that are contrary to the terms of our collective agreements, and restore the seniority rights of our membership,” explains Kennedy. “The Company has also said that they want to develop solutions in the attraction and retention challenges they have, but we do not feel that where their mindset is presently at, will adequately address those challenges. Of course there is still lots of time to work through our differences today so we will remain optimistic we can reach a settlement that will meet the expectations of our membership,” says Kennedy.
Bargaining will continue the week of November 24th in Montreal.
From left to right | Front row: Jared White, Dave Kissack Back row: Patrick Murray, Bob Fitzgerald, Ron Shore, Barry Kennedy, Myriam Germain, Serge Auger |
CNTL Owner-Operator Bargaining
The Council 4000 CNTL Bargaining Committee met last week in Montreal for their second session with CN on renewing the collective agreement for our 880 members who are contracted as Owner-Operators at CNTL. Negotiations have focused only on collective agreement provisions and administrative matters up to this point.
“Negotiations have been productive thus far, but we still have several items to work on leading up to us attaining any type of settlement”, says Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy. “Some of the Company’s proposals jeopardize the potential growth of our bargaining unit. As CNTL continues to expand, by almost 400 members since our last round of negotiations in 2010/2011, we need to protect the integrity of our bargaining unit in the years ahead”, explains Kennedy.
The bargaining committee hopes to be in a position to start addressing some of our economic proposals when we meet December 11th and 12th. We have asked the Company to present us with a more detailed outline on what they are proposing in terms of amending the present fuel charge and safety bonuses.
CNTL bargaining will continue on December 3rd and 4th, and 11th and 12th in Montreal.
From left to right | Front row: Wesley Gajda, Pauline Fondeur, Marcel Beausoleil Steven Harding, Barry Kennedy | Back row: Gurjinder (Ricky) Brar, Ranbir Bhatti (Not pictured - Bob Fitzgerald) |
Related:
- Nov 12, 2014 CP, CN and CNTL Bargaining Update - CN files for Conciliation
- Nov 4, 2014 Unifor Bargaining Update: CN Mechanical and CN Savage Alberta Railway
- Oct 20, 2014 Unifor Council 4000 CN Bargaining Updates
- Sep 29, 2014 Unifor’s Rail Locals open negotiations with Canada's largest railways
- Sep 29, 2014 Unifor National Council 4000 CNTL Bargaining Survey Results
- Jul 28, 2014 Results of the Unifor National Council 4000 CN Bargaining Survey
- Jul 19, 2014 Unifor Council 4000 negotiates new truck specifications with CNTL
