(Bloomberg News circulated the following article by Rob Delaney on March 22.)
OTTAWA — Workers at Canadian National Railway Co., the country’s largest railway, may not ratify a labor accord reached Feb. 24 because it won’t end “intimidation” against employees, a former union chief said.
About 70 percent of the 2,800 CN Rail workers represented by the United Transportation Union oppose the tentative accord, which comes up for ratification April 9, said Rex Beatty, the former head of the union’s Canadian chapter. Beatty, a CN conductor, was ousted as union leader last month for calling the strike.
CN Rail’s conductors and yard workers want more than a 20- minute break per nine-hour shift and oppose the company’s policy of penalizing employees for breaches, Beatty said in a telephone interview. The workers also want an end to the company’s right to withhold 60 percent of pension contributions from employees who quit before the age of 55, according to Beatty, who calls that policy intimidation.
“CN denies any allegation of intimidation,” Mark Hallman, the company’s spokesman, said in a telephone interview. He declined to comment further.
Union members went on strike Feb. 10 after failing to negotiate a contract with the railroad, which handles most of Canadian exports sent by rail. The two-week strike delayed shipments of coal, grains, lumber and car parts for companies including Ford Motor Co. and held up cargo going to and from Canada’s largest port in Vancouver.
$67.5 Billion of Exports
Canada exported C$77 billion ($67.5 billion) in goods in 2005, according to data from Transport Canada. The country’s railroads shipped 33 million tons of coal and 30 million tons of grain in 2005, the most recent year for which data are available.
The striking employees returned to work on Feb. 25 after reaching the tentative one-year accord, which replaced a three- year contract that expired on Dec. 31. The union said at the time that it will retain its right to strike during the ratification process.
Union leaders want to address the break-time and pension issues after the tentative accord is ratified, said Tim Secord, a United Transportation Union representative in Canada.
“The best bet is to ratify this short-term agreement so the union can come back in seven months and then try to effectively address these issues,” Secord said.
The tentative agreement was reached a day after Canadian Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn introduced legislation in Parliament to force striking employees back to work. The legislation would, in the event that workers vote against the contract, require a government arbitration board to review final contract proposals from both sides and order a binding resolution.
Rival Unions
Last month, Beatty led an effort to force a vote for workers to nominate the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, another labor group, as their representative. Secord accused Beatty of hurting the interests of the workers by trying to switch unions.
Shares of Canadian National fell 22 cents to C$52.63 at 4:25 p.m. in Toronto Stock Exchange trading. The stock has fallen 4.1 percent over the past year.