MONTREAL — Canadian National recently named John Koonce, Michael A. Wells and Tarie Smith, all residents of Memphis, as winners of its CN President’s Awards for Excellence for 2002. In this year’s edition of the annual employee awards program, a record 146 employees from throughout the CN network have earned recognition for their individual and team achievements in various areas, including Safety, Customer Focus, and Bravery and Exceptional Community Service.
Through its annual President’s Awards program, the company recognizes employees and teams whose spirit, ingenuity and drive have helped make CN North America’s best railroad. This year’s presentation took place at a gala ceremony in Montreal, Quebec on October 18.
“CN takes great pride in its employees’ accomplishments,” says Paul Tellier, CN President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our 2002 awards are particularly significant: this is the largest field of recipients since we started the awards program. Solid team and individual initiatives from all areas of the company are helping us make great strides to take CN to its next level – North America’s best transportation company.”
— John Koonce, General Chairman, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
Operational Breakthrough category – IC/BLE Labor NegotiatingTeam
The Operational Breakthrough category recognizes employees who demonstrate exceptional problem-solving skills, a mind-set of innovation and who challenge conventional wisdom. People who seek to improve the way things are done and are catalysts for change are honored in this category. John Koonce was a member of the team that negotiated the new agreement between IC and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE). The contract is a breakthrough for labor/management relations in the US. The agreement simplifies and modernizes both the language of the contract and the nature of the employment relationship between employees and the company and improves the employees’ quality of life.
— Michael A. Wells, Mechanical Foreman
— Tarie Smith, Electrician
Safety category – L.I.F.E. team
This category recognizes employees who have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to railroad safety, a number one priority for CN. The 47-member union/management L.I.F.E. (Live Injury-Free Everyday) team, of which these two Memphis residents were members, developed an innovative safety initiative. Including representatives from all occupations, they revised the existing safety rule books from different organizations within CN’s US operations. Their original solution moves away from more traditional approaches to implementing railroad safety processes and procedures and uses creative methods such as peer coaching.
Each year, CN employees nominate their deserving colleagues as candidates for the CN President’s Awards for Excellence program. For 2002, employees and teams from throughout the company have been selected to receive the President’s Awards for Excellence for achievements in: Safety, New Business Opportunities, Customer Focus, People Leadership, Cost Effectiveness, Operational Breakthrough, Bravery and Exceptional Community Service, and Diversity. The CN President’s Awards program is non-monetary; it honors recipients with awards plaques, a gala weekend in Montreal, plus recognition in various CN and external publications.
Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Winnipeg, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.