(Reuters circulated the following article on January 9.)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Canadian National Railway’s, truck drivers and clerical workers in Canada have voted to give their union a strike mandate, but contract negotiations continue, the union said on Tuesday.
Roughly 4,400 workers represented by two locals of the Canadian Auto Workers union are looking for wage improvements and more protection against outsourcing at a time when Canada’s largest railway is enjoying strong profits.
The union said its members will not legally be able to strike until Jan. 18, and a Canadian National spokesman said the company remains optimistic that an agreement will be reached before that deadline.
The union said in an e-mail to its members that the authorization to strike was endorsed by 91 percent of shop workers — who repair locomotives and freight cars — and by between 77 and 86 percent of the other workers.
Unionized workers in Canada usually approve strike mandates by large margins.
Canadian National is also in negotiations with the United Transportation Union on a new contract for about 2,800 train crew employees. They will not be in a legal strike position until Feb. 9.
Contracts for the Canadian Auto Workers and United Transportation Union members expired at the end of 2006. The negotiations do not involve CN’s employees in the United States.