CN Rail is determined to provoke its workers into launching a strike, regardless of the union's insistence to continue negotiations.
That's the charge leveled by Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) that represents 2,700 conductors, yardmen and traffic coordinators following the breakdown of negotiations between the union and company at the end of August.
About 100 workers in Melville are affected by the negotiations. According to Stephane Lacroix, director of communications with Teamsters Canada, the main issues relate to health and safety, and a 33 per cent reduction of the workforce as proposed by CN.
By reducing its conductor numbers by 33 per cent, CN, in essence would be forcing conductors to increase their monthly mileage significantly - from 4,200 miles up to 7,500 miles per month, Lacroix says.
According to the union "the rail company is proposing modifications to eliminate all provisions pertaining to the rest period by arguing they are outdated.
The workers could therefore be forced to work 24 out of 32 hours and then re-start the cycle eight hours later, increasing the risk of accidents, the union contends.
The workers have been without a contract since July. Talks began in May but only several days of meetings were logged. Lacroix says since the negotiations broke down CN has refused to offer a formal proposal to the workers' negotiations committee and no further discussions have been planned; as well, CN has declined an extension of the conciliator's mandate. "There is no formal proposal (from CN) on the table right now. It means CN is waiting for the conciliator's report. We kept asking the company to make their demands, their offer, and we waited and waited and nothing official came from CN."
CN and the union only negotiated for a few days in May before CN filed a request for a conciliator. While Lacroix says the union is puzzled with CN's approach it bears resemblance to the route it took when negotiating with locomotive engineers last year.
