CN's workers had been without a contract since July 22nd and the current round of negotiations reached a crunch period earlier this week, when suggestions were made that unless progress was made there could be the very real possibility of a disruption of service.
As we outlined on the blog on Wednesday, the sticking point in the negotiations was the threat of CN to seek unilateral new work rules on staffing levels, a concession that wasn't received well by the Teamsters Rail Conference. In a brief comment to Canadian Business, Bryan Boechler, the General Chairman of Teamster's Conference said that the deal does not include any concessions.
On Friday, CN had backtracked on its plan to bring in work scheduling changes for its workforce, a move that seems to have paved the way for the tentative agreement.
In a press release issued earlier today, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference outlined some of the terms of the new tentative deal, including wage increases of 2.4%, 2.6% and 3% fully retroactive to July 23, 2010. In addition to other benefit changes, there will also be a provision in place for scheduling which will meet the requirements of individual terminals.
CN's press release offered less detail on the terms, but stressed the achievement of labour stability for the next three years.
The possibility of service disruption to Northern communities spurred Initiatives Prince George to write a letter of concern over the possibility of a strike or lock out situation, outlining the impact that such a situation would have had on industry and services from Prince George to
Montreal Gazette-- CN, union reach tentative deal
Opinion 250-- CN and Union Reach Agreement
Reuters-- CN reaches contract deal with train crews
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