CLEVELAND, Ohio, and ROSEMONT, Ill., March 13, 2002 — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) and Wisconsin Central Division (WCD) of Canadian National today announced ratification of a ground-breaking labor agreement by the BLE’s WCD members.
Rick Radek, BLE international vice-president, said: “Negotiations were launched well in advance of the expiration of the current agreement because of a strong labor and management interest in exploring alternative methods of compensating operating employees.
“In contrast with standard Class 1 railroad mileage- and rule-based wage systems, this progressive agreement is based on a concept of hourly wage and job guarantees. We believe this less complex pact should lead to more cooperative and less adversarial relations between labor and management.”
The BLE represents about 310 locomotive engineers on WCD. The three-year agreement, effective April 2002, settles wage and work rule issues for engineers through March 2005, and supersedes an existing agreement with a term through yearend 2002.
E. Hunter Harrison, CN’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said:
“I applaud the BLE and WCD leadership in forging a breakthrough agreement. It will preserve the work-rule flexibility of an earlier agreement while enhancing compensation and quality of life for WCD engineers. This is truly important, because I’ve long believed that the complexities of Class 1 labor agreements create almost as many employee life quality and operating problems as the agreements are intended to solve.”
Founded May 8, 1863, the BLE is the oldest labor union in North America, representing 59,000 professional locomotive engineers, conductors, trainmen, train dispatchers, and other rail workers in the U.S. and Canada.
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, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.