MONTREAL — Two Canadian unions whose contracts with Canadian National Railway expired at the end of 2022 have voted in favor of a strike, CityNews reports.
Unifor Local 100 and Unifor Council 4000 have voted 98% and 97%, respectively, in favor of a strike. The two unions represent about 3,000 workers in mechanical, intermodal, and clerical positions nationwide.
Unifor says it has held five bargaining sessions with CN since October 2022, and has another scheduled for March 13. In announcing plans for a strike vote in February, the union said it made some progress during sessions in October and November, but the parties remained far apart on key issues, so it filed for conciliation. Unifor says CN responded with an offer seeking “significant concessions;” CN said its offer “includes increases in net pay and benefits. It also resolves outstanding issues between the parties and provides improved working conditions for all represented employees.”
Bruce Snow, assistant to the national officers at Unifor, told CityNews that one of the main sticking points is CN’s desire to change the age for early retirement, which has been 55.
The earliest possible date for a strike against CN in Canada is March 21. CN said it does not expect any labor action to impact operations.
Create a tiered system for retirement benefits, e.g., 25% at 50, 50% at 55, 75% at 60, and finally, 100% at 65.
The police and fire at my former employer in California had a 90% at 50 plan, with the retirement dollar based upon the last year of service. It was common to juice the final year with as much overtime as possible increase the retirement pay. The employee would retire taking home more than when they worked. (My plan was 3% at 60, e.g., 30 years times 3% per year equals 90%. 50 was 2%. 55 was 2.5%.)
What I see here is a similar situation. The unions do not want the golden goose to go away.
What’s wrong with changing the age for early retirement? There’s nothing wrong with changing it to 60, I don’t know CN’s proposal, but what they should do if it’s such a big deal is leave it at 55 but with half benefits or one third benefits.