Canadian National Railway’s 2,800 union conductors and yard workers voted overwhelmingly on April 10 to reject a tentative one-year contract with the railroad, and returned to the picket lines on Wednesday in what the union termed would be a “rolling strike” across the CN system.
A United Transportation Union spokesman said 79.4 percent of the 2,317 union members who cast ballots voted to reject the tentative agreement with CN, which was negotiated on Feb. 24 between UTU leaders and CN officials after a walkout that began on Feb. 10 (GM March 5, p. 1).
The agreement had specified a 3 percent wage increase and a $1,000 signing bonus, but an April 10 press release from UTU Vice President John Armstrong said the union members “want a better deal at CN ?Çô one that deals with dignity and so-called ‘relationship’ issues.” Picketers in Vancouver on Wednesday carried signs that read, “UTU on strike against CN for respect, dignity and safety.”
The union had originally asked for a 4.5 percent wage increase in the first two years of a three-year contract, with a 4 percent increase in the final year. The “relationship” issues at question, reportedly involving CN policies regarding lunch breaks, disciplinary actions, and employee surveillance, were cited by some insiders as a primary reason for the contract rejection.
The resumed walkout prompted a new round of statements from Canadian businesses, including the fertilizer industry, which were heavily impacted by the February strike action because of costly shipping delays.
“Ending the strike is critical to avoid crippling the movement of fertilizer throughout rural Canada as well as to export markets,” said the Canadian Fertilizer Institute in an April 11 statement. “The Canadian fertilizer industry faces an annual logistical challenge of moving 25 million tonnes of product. At this critical time, rail service disruptions may cause significant losses and layoffs throughout both the farming and farm supply industries.” Added CFI President Roger Larson, “The spring season will be quickly upon us, and the next four to six weeks will determine the success or failure of farmers’ crops this year.”
CN said it would try to keep systems up and running by using management to fill in for the striking workers, just as it did during the first walkout. The railroad cautioned, however, that “service levels may be affected by the frequency, location and severity of the UTU’s rotating work actions.”
Rhonda Speiss, public relations manager for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., told Green Markets that the company was “in daily contact with CN to prioritize the movement of our products out of Saskatchewan.” She said CN “has advised that they’ll do their best during the strike,” but noted that it is “too early to tell what the impact will be on shipments. We’re certainly hopeful that the situation will be resolved quickly.”
“It’s definitely been a ‘two martini’ kind of day with the CN announcement,” another industry source told Green Markets on Wednesday. “Although they are saying it is a ‘rolling strike’, I remain dubious about the ability of CN management to effectively maintain service if it becomes a protracted situation. We have some proactive plans in place to move U.S. plants currently being sourced off the CN to other supply bases as may be necessary.”
UTU conductors and rail yard workers had been back to work at CN since the Feb. 24 agreement was reached, but the union had officially remained on strike pending approval of the contract. Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn had introduced back-to-work legislation in Ottawa on Feb. 23 that was a key factor in bringing the two sides together. On March 29, Blackburn promised federal intervention again if the strike were to resume, and reiterated that promise on April 11 while acknowledging that a “negotiated settlement is always preferable to legislation.” In its April 10 press release, UTU Vice President Bob Sharpe asked the Canadian government not to interfere while negotiations commenced between the union and CN.
CFI on April 11, however, urged the Canadian government to “act quickly to enact back-to-work legislation,” and that sentiment was echoed by other impacted industries. “We are calling for the government to move quickly to impose a dispute resolution process combined with immediate back-to-work legislation for CN railway workers,” said Richard Phillips, executive director of the Grain Growers of Canada. “Not only will a strike once again shake our customers’ confidence in our ability to supply grain at export position, but a shortage of fertilizer could cripple Canadian farmers at seeding time.”
“We do expect the government to not allow this to go on,” said Richard Downey of Agrium Inc. “It is going into the middle of the season, and this has the potential to significantly impact Canadian farmers in terms of crop inputs.” Downey told Green Markets that lawmakers were in recess last week in Ottawa, but have back-to-work legislation “ready to go” and will not tolerate “putting the Canadian farmer at that kind of risk.” Downey added that he expects the government to act quickly. “We anticipate there would be sufficient support within the Canadian government to do that,” he said.
In an April 12 statement, trade groups representing more than 20 producers and shippers of sulfur in Western Canada also called on “all federal parties to protect jobs, health and safety and the environment, by immediately passing legislation that will bring a speedy end to the current CN rail labour disruptions.”
UTU Spokesman Frank Wilner was quoted as saying the union was “prepared to return to [the] bargaining table to negotiate a better agreement acceptable to the membership, and until we gain such an agreement, we’ll continue with rotating strikes across the CN system.” Mark Hallman, CN’s director of communications, said the railroad is also willing to continue talks with the union.
Late on Wednesday, however, CN had reportedly locked out about 280 workers in five Canadian cities who had originally intended only to remain off the job for a few hours. UTU officials blamed CN for “effectively escalating the level of disruption” by that action, but CN officials said the lockouts were necessary to maintain the railroad’s operating schedules. “We have to have a predictable source of manpower resources,” a CN official was quoted as saying.