After five bargaining sessions, approximately 3600 employees across clerical, mechanical, intermodal and facility management departments have voted overwhelmingly in support of strike action with Unifor Local 100 and Unifor Council 4000 voting 98 percent and 97 percent, respectively in favour. The earliest possible date of job action would be March 21, 2023, following a 72-hour notice. Unifor has five collective agreements with CN Rail – four of which will be negotiated during this current round of bargaining. The bargaining committees are set to meet with the employer again during the week of March 13. A Unifor spokesperson has indicated that one of the main points of tension with this contract include pensions and CN Rail’s proposal to change the age for early retirement, which is 55 with minimum 30 years of service, to 65 by the end of this year.
