(Reuters circulated the following article on February 14.)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Negotiators for striking Canadian National Railway conductors said on Wednesday that union members have offered to return to work if the company agrees not to discipline workers over the walkout.
A statement by the United Transportation Union negotiators also indicated that internal union wrangling was the cause of a delay in concluding hearings on whether the strike by 2,800 conductors and freight-yard employees is legal.
“During the hearings, we offered to return to the trains and commit to returning to the table if the company agreed there would be no penalties or discipline. The company declined,” the UTU’s Canadian negotiators said.
A spokesman for Canadian National, Canada’s largest railway, says the company is open to resuming bargaining with the UTU “but not with the union’s preconditions.”
The strike that began on Saturday has been unusual because it has exposed a public split between the UTU’s Canadian negotiators and the union’s U.S.-based international leaders, who have said the walkout was unauthorized.
Canadian National has asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to declare the strike illegal on the grounds that it was not properly authorized by the union’s international leadership in the United States.
The CIRB on Tuesday delayed a hearing on Canadian National’s request.
The UTU’s Canadian negotiators said the delay was made at the request of the UTU’s international leadership, which needed more time to prepare.
“The board appeared to be perplexed that the UTU’s motion was being opposed by the UTU,” the Canadian officials said in a note to striking employees.
A spokesman at the UTU’s international headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, was not available on Wednesday because the offices were closed due to bad weather.
CN Rail says it has maintained freight service comparable to pre-strike levels by using management crews. The UTU disputes that and says there have been several train accidents caused by inexperience.
The strike does not involve Canadian National’s operations in the United States, in northern Quebec or on its Algoma Central and Mackenzie Northern Railway subsidiaries in Canada.
Via Rail passenger trains and commuter service in Toronto and Montreal have also not been disrupted.