The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference has rejected a second proposed settlement with CN.
Members of the union narrowly voted in opposition to a tentative agreement reached on Feb. 10, with 891 voting in opposition and 852 voting in favour. 64.2 per cent of the membership participated in the vote.
CN said it is now proposing binding arbitration to reach a contract with the union and the union said it has been advised there would be no further negotiation on the contract.
“We are disappointed that our tentative agreement with the TCRC-CTY narrowly failed ratification following extensive negotiations with the union’s bargaining committee,” said Claude Mongeau, CN president and chief executive officer.
“CN today tabled an offer to the TCRC-CTY to settle all unresolved contract issues through final binding arbitration to allow the parties to move forward without the prospect of labour disruption. The union is now studying our proposal, and we have requested the TCRC-CTY respond to our offer by close of business tomorrow, March 21. We hope the union will accept it in the current circumstances, given that CN’s recovery from extraordinary winter weather that hampered operations is in its early stages. A labour dispute now would ill serve CN’s customers, the Canadian economy or the Company’s employees.”
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference represents approximately 3,000 CN train conductors, trainpersons, yardpersons and traffic coordinators
