Unifor’s Rail Locals open negotiations with Canada's largest railways
September 29, 2014
Unifor opens negotiations with CN | From left-right:National Rep & Director of Rail Brian Stevens, Local 100 President Ken Hiatt, Unifor National President
Jerry Dias & Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy
The national collective agreements for Unifor Rail members at CN and CN Transportation Ltd. (CNTL) (Council 4000 and Local 100) and CP Rail (Local 101R) expire on December 31, 2014. On September 17, 2014, Unifor opened negotiations with CP in Calgary and followed up on September 19, 2014 by opening negotiations with CN & CNTL in Montreal.
Unifor National President Jerry Dias and Assistant to the National President Bob Orr joined the CP and CN/CNTL Unifor Bargaining Committees and National Staff at each of their respective negotiations in Calgary and Montreal.
The Council 4000 CNTL Bargaining Committee met with CN on September 18th, the day prior to the official opening of bargaining to exchange and explain the parties’ respective bargaining proposals. The same was done in the afternoon of September 19 after the official opening for the Council 4000 CN Agreement 5.1, 5.1 Supplemental (Intermodal) and 5.4 Bargaining Committee.
Within the exchange of proposals, both corporations have proposed changes and concessions to work rules and other matters, such as benefits and length of the agreement.
Unifor National President Jerry Dias and Assistant to the National President Bob Orr joined the CP and CN/CNTL Unifor Bargaining Committees and National Staff at each of their respective negotiations in Calgary and Montreal.
The Council 4000 CNTL Bargaining Committee met with CN on September 18th, the day prior to the official opening of bargaining to exchange and explain the parties’ respective bargaining proposals. The same was done in the afternoon of September 19 after the official opening for the Council 4000 CN Agreement 5.1, 5.1 Supplemental (Intermodal) and 5.4 Bargaining Committee.
Within the exchange of proposals, both corporations have proposed changes and concessions to work rules and other matters, such as benefits and length of the agreement.
During the opening, CN President and CEO Claude Mongeau stated that the Company would like to have negotiated settlements ratified and in place before the end of the year. Unifor said that we too would be open to earlier settlements with CN, but that the Company has to be committed to open and good faith bargaining to achieve an earlier deal and address the needs of our members – their employees and Unifor bargaining unit contractors – that they have expressed are important to them for this round of negotiations.
CP and CN & CNTL have made significant gains in the past decade and both railways have excelled in revenue growth, productivity and in their profits. President Dias commented to both companies: “We are well aware that the railways continue to experience major gains in its bottom line and productivity that’s a direct result of the hard work and dedication of our Unifor members. We intend to achieve a bargained agreement that recognizes our members’ contribution to the company’s success.”
The following dates for negotiations with the Unifor Council 4000 Bargaining Committees have been confirmed to this point:
CNTL – October 8 & 9 in Montreal
CN Agreement 5.1/Supplemental – October 15, 16, 17 in Montreal
CN Agreement 5.1/Supplemental – November 4-7 in Toronto
CN Agreement 5.1/Supplemental – November 25-28 (tentatively for Toronto)
CNTL – November 11-14 (tentative)
The Unifor Council 4000 Bargaining Committees are as follows:
CP and CN & CNTL have made significant gains in the past decade and both railways have excelled in revenue growth, productivity and in their profits. President Dias commented to both companies: “We are well aware that the railways continue to experience major gains in its bottom line and productivity that’s a direct result of the hard work and dedication of our Unifor members. We intend to achieve a bargained agreement that recognizes our members’ contribution to the company’s success.”
The following dates for negotiations with the Unifor Council 4000 Bargaining Committees have been confirmed to this point:
CNTL – October 8 & 9 in Montreal
CN Agreement 5.1/Supplemental – October 15, 16, 17 in Montreal
CN Agreement 5.1/Supplemental – November 4-7 in Toronto
CN Agreement 5.1/Supplemental – November 25-28 (tentatively for Toronto)
CNTL – November 11-14 (tentative)
The Unifor Council 4000 Bargaining Committees are as follows:
|
CNTL
Barry Kennedy – President, Council 4000 Wesley Gajda – Regional Representative, Council 4000 Ricky Brar – Unifor Local 4001 Pauline Fondeur – Unifor Local 4002 Ranbir Bhatti – Unifor Local 4003 Marcel Beausoleil – Unifor Local 4004 Steven Harding – Unifor Local 4005 Bob Fitzgerald – National Representative, Unifor Myriam Germain – National Representative, Unifor Bob Orr – Assistant to the National President, Unifor Jerry Dias – National President, Unifor |
CN Agreement 5.1/Supplemental Agreement
Barry Kennedy – President, Council 4000 Ron Shore – Regional Rep Mountain Region (Local 4001), Council 4000 Dave Kissack – Regional Rep Prairie Region (Local 4002), Council 4000 Jared White – Regional Rep Great Lakes Region (Local 4003), Council 4000 Serge Auger – Regional Rep St. Lawrence Region (Local 4004), Council 4000 Pat Murray – Regional Rep Atlantic Region (Local 4005), Council 4000 Bob Fitzgerald – National Representative, Unifor Myriam Germain – National Representative, Unifor Bob Orr – Assistant to the National President, Unifor Jerry Dias – National President, Unifor |
CN Agreement 5.4
Barry Kennedy – President, Council 4000
Ron Shore – Regional Rep Mountain Region (Local 4001), Council 4000
Bob Fitzgerald – National Representative, Unifor
Bob Orr – Assistant to the National President, Unifor
Jerry Dias – National President, Unifor
During bargaining, the Union will be keeping members up to date on the status of negotiations by various means, including our Council 4000 website www.unifor4000.com, Unifor’s national website www.unifor.org, and our Unifor Rail communique RailLine sent via email, fax and posted on social media sites. RailLine is accessible from off our Council 4000 website and social media sites.
Speaking of social media, updates will also be posted on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/unifor4000, Twitter feeds @Unifor4000, @PrezUnifor4000, @Unifor_RailLine, #Uniforrail and our Google+ Page plus.google.com/+Unifor4000.
Click here for the second issue of the new Unifor RailLine, which replaced the former Railfax earlier this year, which features the opening of collective bargaining with both of Canada’s largest railways.
