Teamsters Canada Rail Conference membership reject labour agreement (again)

The path to labour peace at Canadian National Railways will take another twist, with word that the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference membership has rejected the Memorandum of Agreement of February 5th,  denying ratification of the agreement in a close vote.

It is the second time that the membership has rejected an agreement with the railway since the current round of negotiations began last year.

According to a notice from the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, 64.2 per cent of active members returned ballots on the agreement, with 852 voting in favour of it, 891 against and with 8 spoiled ballots.

What happens next in the labour dispute has not been outlined from the labour organization, though they did add in their notice to members that CN has advised that they do not intend to meet for further negotiations unless it is to discuss conditions of arbitration.

Towards that theme, Canadian National outlined their thoughts on the dispute and the proposed binding arbitration to reach a contract settlement, expressing their disappointment at the latest turn of events.

Some media accounts of the latest developments can be found below:

Globe and Mail-- CN Rail workers vote down second labour agreement
BNN-- CN Rail workers vote down second labour agreement