CN Says Binding Arbitration Proper Forum To Address Unifor Bargaining Demands

(RTTNews) - Canadian railroad operator Canadian National Railway Co. or CN (CNR.TO, CNI) said it is disappointed with Unifor's recent claims that the company is not bargaining in good faith and is trying to force its agenda on the union through a lockout of the union's 4,800 members.

CN noted that it had nearly reached an agreement with Unifor on employee matters in late December 2014, but the union introduced its demand that CN make cash contributions to support Unifor's political and community action fund.

However, CN said it will not accept the demand because it is not prepared to allow financial matters related to the union to take precedence over the interests of its employees.

According to CN, Unifor, which had not even asked for a strike vote until this week despite six months of negotiations and its contract with CN expiring on December 31, 2014, further deviated from this near-settlement when it unreasonably increased many of its demands after negotiating a tentative labour agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP, CP.TO) last weekend.

Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive of CN, said, "If Unifor believes it is advocating the right deal pattern, then the proper forum to get a fair hearing for such a deal pattern is binding arbitration. An independent arbitrator can consider all the facts impartially and decide in fairness what terms are most in line with the interests of CN employees represented by Unifor."