MONTREAL — Negotiations between CN and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) ended this evening, Nov. 27, with no agreement on a new labour contract, the railroad said.
CN and the TCRC had resumed negotiations earlier in the day with the assistance of federal mediators in an attempt to reach a settlement. CN now expects the TCRC to strike the company’s Canadian operations.
CN said a TCRC strike is particularly unfortunate because CN has repeatedly offered, and the union has refused, to submit the contract disagreements to binding arbitration in order to avoid a labour disruption.
In a news release, CN said a strike “at this time is in no one’s interest, as it will hurt CN’s customers, its employees and the Canadian economy.”
CN will implement its labour contingency plan, under which qualified management personnel will work as locomotive engineers. CN is committed to provide the best possible service to its customers in the circumstances and will do so until it can reach a new agreement with the TCRC.
Locomotive engineers will remain on the job in the following CN territories because of separate collective agreements: northern Alberta, parts of northern and eastern Ontario, northern Quebec, and parts of eastern Quebec and New Brunswick.
