Montréal, November 26, 2019 – After a weeklong strike, the Teamsters
and Canadian National (CN) have reached a tentative agreement to
renew the collective agreement for over 3,000 conductors,
trainpersons and yard workers.
Normal operations at CN will
resume tomorrow at 0600 local time across Canada.
I would like to thank our members for their incredible courage and
solidarity
“I
am pleased to announce that we’ve reached a tentative agreement with
CN. I would like to thank our members for their incredible courage
and solidarity,” said the president of Teamsters Canada, François
Laporte. “I would also like to thank all the Teamster local unions
from across different industries, all the labour organizations and
members of the public who supported us on the picket line.”
The tentative agreement must now be ratified by Teamster members via
secret-ballot electronic voting. Before the voting period opens,
union meetings will be held across the country to explain the terms
of the agreement to members. The process usually takes several
months.
Details of the tentative agreement will not be
released until the members have had a chance to review the document
first.
Teamsters would like to thank Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau for respecting workers’ right to strike. The union would
also like to acknowledge Labour Minister Filomena Tassi, Transport
Minister Marc Garneau, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service (FMCS). They were instrumental in helping parties find
common ground.
“Previous governments routinely violated
workers’ right to strike when it came to the rail industry. This
government remained calm and focused on helping parties reach an
agreement, and it worked,” added Laporte.
Teamsters
represent close to 125,000 workers in Canada in all industries,
including over 16,000 in the rail sector. The International
Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated,
has 1.4 million members in North America.
Media requests:
Christopher Monette
Director of Public Affairs
Teamsters Canada
Cell: 514-226-6002
cmonette@teamsters.ca
