Unifor Council 4000 meets with Toronto Terminals Railway to discuss October 27 job abolishments
October 10, 2016
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On September 26, 2016, Toronto Terminals Railway (TTR) served notice to the Union as in accordance with Article 8.1 (b) of the Employment Security and Income Maintenance Agreement (ESIMA) advising of the abolishment of 41 permanent Flagging positions effective October 27, 2016. This unfortunate news is resultant of TTR losing the flagging contract with MetroLinx and GO Transit to A&B Rail Services. The 41 members who are losing their jobs are members of Unifor Council 4000's Local 4003.
Normally, permanent job reductions materialize under the terms of Article 8.1 (a) of the ESIMA, which covers Technological, Operational or Organizational (TO&O) change of a permanent nature that will have adverse effects on members holding permanent positions. A minimum 120 days advance notice is to be provided to the Union. |
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In this case, where TTR, a third party contractor to MetroLinx lost a contract in the 'request for proposal' (RFP) bidding process to A&B Rail, TTR contends that Article 8.1 (b) is applicable as this change falls under the category of 'other change' and not that of a 'TO&O change' as contemplated in Article 8.1 (a). In these cases, lesser notice may be provided. Article 8.1 (b) states:
Prior to implementing any other permanent change of a known duration of one year or more, which will have adverse effects on employees holding permanent positions, the company will provide the Union with as much advance notification as possible. The notification will contain a description of the change and the expected number of employees who will be adversely affected.
The Union is still examining TTR's position in this regard.
Notwithstanding, these changes will nevertheless occur on October 27, so the Union went ahead and with the Company and CN Labour Relations on October 6 in accordance Article 8.4 of the ESIMA to discuss minimizing adverse affects on members, how TTR is going to implement the changes and when they will come into affect. Discussions also outlined refresher training, paper displacement, vacations, weekly layoff benefits, maintenance of basic rates (incumbency) and training opportunities. The Union and the Company will be canvassing members starting on October 12, 2016 to make paper displacements as to which jobs they will declare to.
Tap here to read and upload a copy of the communique the Union issued to our TTR membership, which provides more details. (PDF)
During our Article 8.4 meeting, CN Labour Relations advised that CN is currently hiring 12 Electricians, 4 Heavy Duty Mechanics and 6 Labourers. If any TTR members are interested in any of these positions, they may apply for them online and, while doing so, please forward your name and the position you applied for to Unifor Council 4000 Regional Representative Mark Robinson, who will forward your name to CN Human Resources. Unifor Council 4000 will solicit CN to give our TTR membership preference when hiring for these positions.
We will continue to update our TTR membership as the information become available.
Mark Robinson
Regional Representative
Unifor National Council 4000
Prior to implementing any other permanent change of a known duration of one year or more, which will have adverse effects on employees holding permanent positions, the company will provide the Union with as much advance notification as possible. The notification will contain a description of the change and the expected number of employees who will be adversely affected.
The Union is still examining TTR's position in this regard.
Notwithstanding, these changes will nevertheless occur on October 27, so the Union went ahead and with the Company and CN Labour Relations on October 6 in accordance Article 8.4 of the ESIMA to discuss minimizing adverse affects on members, how TTR is going to implement the changes and when they will come into affect. Discussions also outlined refresher training, paper displacement, vacations, weekly layoff benefits, maintenance of basic rates (incumbency) and training opportunities. The Union and the Company will be canvassing members starting on October 12, 2016 to make paper displacements as to which jobs they will declare to.
Tap here to read and upload a copy of the communique the Union issued to our TTR membership, which provides more details. (PDF)
During our Article 8.4 meeting, CN Labour Relations advised that CN is currently hiring 12 Electricians, 4 Heavy Duty Mechanics and 6 Labourers. If any TTR members are interested in any of these positions, they may apply for them online and, while doing so, please forward your name and the position you applied for to Unifor Council 4000 Regional Representative Mark Robinson, who will forward your name to CN Human Resources. Unifor Council 4000 will solicit CN to give our TTR membership preference when hiring for these positions.
We will continue to update our TTR membership as the information become available.
Mark Robinson
Regional Representative
Unifor National Council 4000
