MONTREAL — Canada’s labor minister, Steven MacKinnon, has appointed three conciliation officers to assist in negotiations between Canadian National and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, CN said on Friday.
The IBEW, which represents about CN 750 signal and communication workers across Canada, filed a notice of dispute on Oct. 29, indicating that the union considers the negotiations that began Sept. 24 to be at an impasse. The union’s current contract expires Dec. 31. The first conciliation meetings are scheduled for Nov. 20-22.
“While we are disappointed by the early filing of a Notice of dispute by the union, we remain committed to reaching a fair agreement that is good for our employees, customers, and the overall economy,” CN said in a press release. “Our main focus during these talks is to prioritize improvements that will help develop and stabilize our workforce while ensuring everyone’s safety, and to prevent any work stoppage.”
CN is also engaged in the conciliation process with Unifor, which represents about 3,600 mechanical, clerical, and intermodal employees and also has a contract expiring Dec. 31 [see “Union requests conciliation …,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 28, 2024]. And the railroad is involved in binding arbitration with the Teamsters Canada Rail Rail Conference, which represents operating crews, following an August government order that ended a brief strike [see “Canada’s labor minster orders arbitration …,” News Wire, Aug. 22, 2024]. The next step in that process will be seven days of mediation in March; if that does not result in a settlement, arbitration would follow in April.
