OTTAWA — Canadian National Railway Co. and its locomotive engineers in the United States have reached a ground-breaking deal that eliminates all the old work rules in exchange for job security and guaranteed time off for employees, the Globe and Mail reported.
In spiking the old collective agreement and writing a totally new contract, the union and the company said in a joint statement yesterday that they have entered a new era of labour relations.
The company would like to explore a similar model “with our [engineers] in Canada in the next round of negotiations,” CN spokesman Mark Hallman said yesterday.
“Of course, there would have to be union buy-in.”
The tentative agreement affecting 415 locomotive engineers who work on former Illinois Central properties in the United States now owned by CN would also see engineers paid an hourly wage. This is “a modernization of the mileage-and-rule-based compensation system that dates from the era of the steam locomotive but remains standard in the [North American] rail industry,” CN and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) said in their joint statement.
Corporations are constantly going to the bargaining table seeking relief from contract provisions that hamper their flexibility, but it is rare for union negotiators to see much benefit in this for their members, Pradeep Kumar, an industrial relations professor at Queen’s University, said in an interview yesterday.
“There have to be significant protections for both parties,” Prof. Kumar said.
It is too soon to predict whether the CN agreement will influence other negotiations, although the new deal is bound to attract intense scrutiny, Prof. Kumar said.
CN recently ratified contracts in Canada covering 1,900 members of the BLE and 3,000 members of the United Transportation Union. These agreements are due to expire in January, 2004, and the company will test the interest of the unions’ Canadian leaders in adopting the Illinois model, Mr. Hallman said.
Mr. Hallman of CN said railways and their employees have been labouring under antiquated and confusing collective agreements that have generated misunderstandings and confrontations for decades.
Although details of the new agreement have not been released, pending ratification, Rick Radek, international vice-president of the BLE, said: “This innovative approach to rail industry wage and working conditions will improve labour relations on the railroad and secure a better balance between work and home life for our members.”
E. Hunter Harrison, CN’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said the agreement, which builds on an earlier deal negotiated at CN’s Wisconsin Central division, will result in “greatly enhanced employee productivity while BLE members obtain job security and significant lifestyle improvements.”