(Reuters circulated the following on November 23, 2009.)
VANCOUVER, B.C. — Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR.TO) (CNI.N) will implement part of its contract proposals on its Canadian locomotive engineers, the carrier said on Monday.
The announcement by Canada’s largest railway came after the Teamsters Union, which represents about 1,700 of the company’s locomotive engineers, accused CN of refusing to negotiate a new agreement at the bargaining table.
Canadian National said it will raise wages by 1.5 percent beginning Nov. 28, but also hike the engineer’s monthly mileage cap from 3,800 to 4,300 miles – a change that would increase the number of days they are potentially available for work.
CN said the increased mileage cap was needed to improve productivity since the engineers now work an average of 15 to 17 days per month, and would bring their contract in line with train conductors who now have a 4,300-mile cap.
The railway had offered wage increases of 2 percent annually in the first three years of a proposed agreement and three percent in the final year in return for the higher cap, but was rejected by the union, a CN spokesman said.
Canadian National said it would still prefer to resolve the dispute without a labor disruption. The two sides have the right under Canadian labor law to issue a 72-hour notice for a strike or lockout.
Wages and the mileage cap were among the issues dividing the two sides. The engineers have been without a contract since the end of last year, and Canada’s labor minister had appointed two mediators in June to help resolve the dispute.
The Teamsters union said it suggested new dates for talks when the latest round of negotiations ended last Friday but that CN had declined further meetings.
“We are very disappointed that CN has declined to continue negotiating as it appears they want to force federal government intervention without having to negotiate,” Daniel Shewchuk, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, said in a statement before CN made its announcement.
The Teamsters were not available for comment about CN’s announcement late Monday.
Shewchuk said the union is looking at the possibility of filing a complaint of “bad faith bargaining” against CN.
The contract dispute does not involve CN’s unionized locomotive engineers in the United States.