Unifor Council 4000 negotiates special terms to minimize adverse effects on Winnipeg CN membership
May 11, 2016
Relocation of CN Public Affairs positions from Winnipeg to Montreal
On January 27, 2016, CN served notice to the Union under the provisions of Article 8.1(a) of the Employment Security and Income Maintenance Agreement (ESIMA) that they were permanently abolishing three positions in the Public Affairs department in downtown Winnipeg effective April 26, 2016. The Company did not stipulate in the notice as to what would happen with the work that has been performed for many years by Senior Public Inquiry Representatives at Public Affairs in Winnipeg, unionized positions that are governed under Unifor Collective Agreement 5.1.
Unifor Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy, Regional Representative Dave Kissack and Local Chairperson Dan Michaluk met with representatives of CN Labour Relations in Winnipeg under the terms of Article 8.4 of the ESIMA to negotiate creative measures in minimizing the adverse effects on Unifor Council 4000 / Local 4002 members in the Winnipeg terminal who would be impacted by this change. In addition to addressing the adverse impact of bargaining unit members in Winnipeg, the Union also expressed its concerns with respect to who would perform the work presently performed by Unifor Agreement 5.1 members at Public Affairs in Winnipeg after April 26, 2016, the effective date of this change.
The Union discovered, through its own research and resources, that the Company would be establishing new non-union, non-scheduled positions titled ‘Public Affairs Community Relations Officers’ at its headquarters in Montreal to handle the duties and work that has been performed for many, many years by Unifor Agreement 5.1 Bargaining Unit members in Winnipeg.
The Union is in the process of filing a grievance contending that the Company has violated Article 2.2 of Agreement 5.1, which states:
Supervisors, non-scheduled employees, or employees in other bargaining units shall not engage, normally, in work currently and traditionally performed by members of this bargaining unit.
The Union will be seeking that CN transfer these positions, duties and work back into the Unifor Agreement 5.1 bargaining unit in Montreal.
Special Retirement Incentives negotiated as part of measures to reduce adverse impact on Winnipeg membership
CN members who hired on with CN prior to 2003, or thereabouts, will recall the vast downsizing that transpired at CN in the 1990s and early part of 2000s. Thankfully to the wisdom and efforts by Union Leaders years before, in the 1980's, the ESIMA was negotiated and set in place to help offset the adverse affects that workers experienced during the significant downsizing at Canada's two largest railways, CN and CP.
Members may also recall Transfer of Benefits at that time, commonly referred to as "buyouts" or "packages" that helped kept younger workers employed by offering incentives to other members to retire or leave the Company with a separation package. Those were; 1) Enhanced Early Retirement Separation Allowances for senior members who were eligible under the CN Pension Plan rules to retire early; 2) Bridging at 65 percent of a member's salary who were at least 50 years of age and eligible for early retirement under the CN Pension Plan within 5 years, or 48 years of age and within 6 or 7 years of early retirement; and 3) Severance Payments of $65,000 and where members would also be entitled to Group Life Insurance and Extended Health and Vision Care benefits fully paid by the Company for one year. But these opportunities only transpired when members whom hired prior to January 1, 1994 with 8 years or more of Cumulative Compensated Service (CCS) were unable to hold work after an Article 8.1(a) change.
Unfortunately today, members do not understand that these options are no more. The reason being is that the vast majority of members today, in 2016, who may find themselves unable to hold a permanent job after an Article 8.1(a) change, is not eligible for Employment Security (ES) Benefits being that they hired on with CN after January 1, 1994. Consequently, there is no liability on the part of CN to offer such options.
However, notwithstanding this fact, Unifor Council 4000 has been successful in a number of Article 8.4 meetings over the past few years in negotiating special retirement incentives for senior members who are eligible under the CN Pension Plan rules to retire early. Members who elect this exceptional opportunity receive an early retirement separation benefit of $12,000 to members that are currently eligible for early retirement under the CN Pension Plan rules and who are at least fifty-five (55) years of age and have eighty-five (85) points. In addition to this retiring allowance incentive, members will also maintain their Group Life Insurance and Extended Health and Vision Care coverage for a period of two years from the date of retirement or until they reach the age of normal retirement, whichever date is earlier.
Given the fact that CN was not contractually obligated to do anything of this sort, attaining these retirement incentives is a good thing. These were negotiated in an effort to keep younger members working and senior members who are eligible to retire the right to do so with a little gift so to speak. Part of this agreement in attaining these retirement incentives was to ensure that we minimized the adverse affects on members in the terminal, minimizing the overall number of displacements and additional training requirements. The Company is only obligated to train members who are unable to hold a position due to a lack of qualifications. If you are displaced by reason of an Article 8 change and can hold work in departments/jobs that members are qualified for, they do not have the right to be trained on another job that may be more preferential if they are qualified elsewhere. The two members that were directly adversely affected (those named on the 8.1 notice) were permitted to place on and be trained due to a lack of qualifications on open vacancies resulting from those that retired. This minimized further adverse affects on the terminal.
On January 27, 2016, CN served notice to the Union under the provisions of Article 8.1(a) of the Employment Security and Income Maintenance Agreement (ESIMA) that they were permanently abolishing three positions in the Public Affairs department in downtown Winnipeg effective April 26, 2016. The Company did not stipulate in the notice as to what would happen with the work that has been performed for many years by Senior Public Inquiry Representatives at Public Affairs in Winnipeg, unionized positions that are governed under Unifor Collective Agreement 5.1.
Unifor Council 4000 President Barry Kennedy, Regional Representative Dave Kissack and Local Chairperson Dan Michaluk met with representatives of CN Labour Relations in Winnipeg under the terms of Article 8.4 of the ESIMA to negotiate creative measures in minimizing the adverse effects on Unifor Council 4000 / Local 4002 members in the Winnipeg terminal who would be impacted by this change. In addition to addressing the adverse impact of bargaining unit members in Winnipeg, the Union also expressed its concerns with respect to who would perform the work presently performed by Unifor Agreement 5.1 members at Public Affairs in Winnipeg after April 26, 2016, the effective date of this change.
The Union discovered, through its own research and resources, that the Company would be establishing new non-union, non-scheduled positions titled ‘Public Affairs Community Relations Officers’ at its headquarters in Montreal to handle the duties and work that has been performed for many, many years by Unifor Agreement 5.1 Bargaining Unit members in Winnipeg.
The Union is in the process of filing a grievance contending that the Company has violated Article 2.2 of Agreement 5.1, which states:
Supervisors, non-scheduled employees, or employees in other bargaining units shall not engage, normally, in work currently and traditionally performed by members of this bargaining unit.
The Union will be seeking that CN transfer these positions, duties and work back into the Unifor Agreement 5.1 bargaining unit in Montreal.
Special Retirement Incentives negotiated as part of measures to reduce adverse impact on Winnipeg membership
CN members who hired on with CN prior to 2003, or thereabouts, will recall the vast downsizing that transpired at CN in the 1990s and early part of 2000s. Thankfully to the wisdom and efforts by Union Leaders years before, in the 1980's, the ESIMA was negotiated and set in place to help offset the adverse affects that workers experienced during the significant downsizing at Canada's two largest railways, CN and CP.
Members may also recall Transfer of Benefits at that time, commonly referred to as "buyouts" or "packages" that helped kept younger workers employed by offering incentives to other members to retire or leave the Company with a separation package. Those were; 1) Enhanced Early Retirement Separation Allowances for senior members who were eligible under the CN Pension Plan rules to retire early; 2) Bridging at 65 percent of a member's salary who were at least 50 years of age and eligible for early retirement under the CN Pension Plan within 5 years, or 48 years of age and within 6 or 7 years of early retirement; and 3) Severance Payments of $65,000 and where members would also be entitled to Group Life Insurance and Extended Health and Vision Care benefits fully paid by the Company for one year. But these opportunities only transpired when members whom hired prior to January 1, 1994 with 8 years or more of Cumulative Compensated Service (CCS) were unable to hold work after an Article 8.1(a) change.
Unfortunately today, members do not understand that these options are no more. The reason being is that the vast majority of members today, in 2016, who may find themselves unable to hold a permanent job after an Article 8.1(a) change, is not eligible for Employment Security (ES) Benefits being that they hired on with CN after January 1, 1994. Consequently, there is no liability on the part of CN to offer such options.
However, notwithstanding this fact, Unifor Council 4000 has been successful in a number of Article 8.4 meetings over the past few years in negotiating special retirement incentives for senior members who are eligible under the CN Pension Plan rules to retire early. Members who elect this exceptional opportunity receive an early retirement separation benefit of $12,000 to members that are currently eligible for early retirement under the CN Pension Plan rules and who are at least fifty-five (55) years of age and have eighty-five (85) points. In addition to this retiring allowance incentive, members will also maintain their Group Life Insurance and Extended Health and Vision Care coverage for a period of two years from the date of retirement or until they reach the age of normal retirement, whichever date is earlier.
Given the fact that CN was not contractually obligated to do anything of this sort, attaining these retirement incentives is a good thing. These were negotiated in an effort to keep younger members working and senior members who are eligible to retire the right to do so with a little gift so to speak. Part of this agreement in attaining these retirement incentives was to ensure that we minimized the adverse affects on members in the terminal, minimizing the overall number of displacements and additional training requirements. The Company is only obligated to train members who are unable to hold a position due to a lack of qualifications. If you are displaced by reason of an Article 8 change and can hold work in departments/jobs that members are qualified for, they do not have the right to be trained on another job that may be more preferential if they are qualified elsewhere. The two members that were directly adversely affected (those named on the 8.1 notice) were permitted to place on and be trained due to a lack of qualifications on open vacancies resulting from those that retired. This minimized further adverse affects on the terminal.