CN Rail sees two strike votes heading toward potential March 21st job action

CN Rail shunting cars along the Prince Rupert waterfront

Two unions who are currently engaged in labour negotiations with CN Rail have served notice of potential strike action for later this month, with Unifor Local and 100 and Unifor Council 4000 members both delivering strong strike mandates n recent days.

In strike vote results released on Sunday, Unifor 100 members endorsed a job action by 98 percent, while 97 percent of Council 4000 members backed the option.

The two union which represent workers related to clerical, intermodal and mechanical work with the railway have been in negotiations with CN Rail since October of 2022.

One of the key sticking points in the current talks is a quest by CN Rail for concessions, including a change when it comes to the age of early retirement which is currently at 55.

The two unions had outlined some of the other outstanding issues in late December.

CN had observed on their last offer:

The 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.

 The two bargaining teams will be back at the negotiating table with CN in Mid March, the earliest date for any potential labour disruption is March 21st.  

However in a statement from mid February CN had said it does not anticipate any impact of any withdrawal of labour to impact on its operations.

More notes related to CN Operations in the Northwest can be reviewd from our archive page.