Canada’s Teamsters labor union has given Canadian National Railway notice that it intends to strike starting Nov. 19, the two parties said on Saturday, following a stalemate in contract negotiations.
The company, the largest Canadian railroad operator, offered the Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference a binding arbitration, which the union declined, CN’s Chief Operating Officer Rob Reilly said in a statement.
“If a settlement cannot be reached this weekend, we will once again encourage the union leadership to accept binding arbitration as an alternative to disrupting the Canadian economy,” Reilly said.
“We remain committed to constructive talks to reach an agreement without a work stoppage,” he added.
Teamsters Canada, which is affiliated to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, said it hopes to reach a settlement that can be ratified by its members but has issued the railway formal 72 hours notice of intent to strike.
“In the event that parties are unable to reach a negotiated settlement, over 3,000 conductors, trainpersons and yard workers will exercise their legal right to strike on Tuesday, November 19 at 0:01 a.m. ET”, Teamsters Canada said...
This was excerpted from the 16 November 2019 edition of Reuters Canada.