Unifor Council 4000 to commence negotiations with VIA Rail week of November 9
November 8, 2015

The Unifor National Council 4000 VIA Rail Bargaining Committee will commence actual negotiations with VIA Rail Canada the week of November 9 in Montreal. The official opening, which included an informal exchange of proposals from both sides, took place on October 30 with both Council 4000 and Unifor Local 100, along with Unifor National President Jerry Dias and VIA Rail President and Chief Executive Officer Yves Desjardins-Siciliano in attendance.
The Corporation has submitted a number of proposals for both Agreement No. 1 and No. 2. This includes:

• Agreement 1: Increasing the number of part-time employees for one for every two regular full-time employees (presently it is one for every three);
• Agreement 1: Reducing the number of days that members have to declare to another position when displaced - language to reflect what Justice George Adams gave CN on June 14, 1995 under the Railway Commission that was established as a component of the federal government's back to work legislation of the CAW Agreements 5.1 (Council 4000) and 12 (Local 100);
• Agreements 1 & 2: Loss of seniority if a member does not commence work on position they are displacing to within 48 hours - again, consistent with the Railway Commissions decision of Justice Adams in June 1995;
• Agreement 1: Increasing the lock-in period of members who have received training under Article 16;
• Supplemental Agreement: Changes to Article 3 - Benefit Accumulation and Layoff Payments      
• Agreements 1 & 2: Estoppel notices (the principle that precludes a member or the Union from asserting something contrary to what is implied by a previous action or practice) on Seasonal Employees under Article 10;
• Agreement 2: Estoppel notice (the principle that precludes a member or the Union from asserting something contrary to what is implied by a previous action or practice) on Vacation and General Holiday Payments under Articles 8.4 and 9.12.

The Unifor Council 4000 VIA Rail Bargaining Proposals were formulated based on our members suggestions as compiled during our VIA Rail Bargaining Surveys completed in July, as well as input from our Local Representatives from across Canada and the Regional Representatives that comprise our bargaining committee.

Click here to see the results of our VIA Rail Bargaining Survey.

The members of the Unifor National Council 4000 VIA Rail Bargaining Committee is as follows:

Council 4000 VIA Rail Bargaining Committee
Barry Kennedy - President, Council 400
Danny Andru - Secretary Treasurer, Council 4000
Jennifer Murray - Regional Representative, Atlantic Region (Local 4005)
Mario Laroche - Regional Representative, St. Lawrence Region (Local 4004)
Andrew Stephen - Regional Representative, Great Lakes Region (Local 4003)
Dave Kissack - Regional Representative, Prairie Region (Local 4002)
Ron Shore - Regional Representative, Mountain Region (Local 4001)
Myriam Germain - National Representative/Montreal Area Director, Unifor
Bob Fitzgerald - National Representative, Unifor
Bob Orr - Assistant to the National Secretary Treasurer, Unifor

We will post bargaining updates when information becomes available on www.unifor4000.com, our Council 4000 social media sites, and Unifor RailLINE.

​Follow Unifor Council 4000 VIA Rail Bargaining on Twitter using the hash tag - #Unifor4000VIAnegs, or visit our Twitter Page at twitter.com/unifor4000​

Related:
October 29, 2015   Unifor to officially open negotiations with VIA Rail tomorrow in Montreal   
October 28, 2015   Results of the Unifor Council 4000 VIA Rail Bargaining Survey