March 24, 2023

CN and Unifor reach agreement

Emily Atkins

CN and Unifor have come to tentative agreements covering four contracts.

The four tentative collective agreements cover Unifor’s Local 100 and Council 4000 members across the country. They cover approximately 3,000 CN employees working in various departments such as Mechanical, Intermodal, Facility Management, and in clerical positions in Canada. Unifor Local 100 represents skilled trades in mechanical shops and Unifor Council 4000 represents intermodal, clerical, mechanics and excavator operators. Unifor is the largest union at CN.

Unifor’s two national bargaining committees opened negotiations with CN in October 2022.

Unifor’s CN master bargaining committee.

The deals avert a possible strike. Unifor members voted overwhelmingly in support of strike action in votes taken during the week of February 20, 2023. Local 100 members voted 98 percent in favour, and Council 4000 members voted 97 percent for a strike.

“These negotiations were fraught with challenges, including demands for concessions by CN,” said Unifor national president Lana Payne.

“With the solid support of the membership, the bargaining committees were able to stand up to this large profitable company and persevere to secure the tentative agreements.”

“We are very pleased to have reached these tentative agreements. CN has always been committed to achieving negotiated settlements to improve the conditions of this important group of employees as we continue our essential work moving the North American economy. We look forward to future collaboration with Unifor,” said Tracy Robinson, president and chief executive officer, CN.

No details of the tentative agreements will be released publicly until the agreements are ratified. The union said in a statement that ratification votes will be held in the near future.