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July 25, 2006 CAW Members at Savage Alberta Railway ratify new collective agreement   More... Negotiations concluded late last week on a new collective agreement between the Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW) and Savage Alberta Railway (SAR), a shortline railway headquartered in Grande Prairie, Alberta.  The CAW represents the company’s conductors and locomotive engineers based in Grande Prairie and Grande Cache, AB.  Members ratified the contract at the union’s ratification meeting held Sunday night (July 23rd) in Grande Prairie.   [More]

July 18, 2006 Local 4005 Members at Scanwood Canada ratify new collective agreement   More... CAW National Council 4000 and its Local 4005 are pleased to announce the new agreement reached between the Union and Scanwood Canada Ltd., based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  The agreement was unanimously ratified by the membership on July 5, 2006, averting a scheduled strike.  [More]  (PDF)

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September 11, 2006 CAW and CN set dates to start collective bargaining on new labour contract   More... Bob Chernecki, Assistant to CAW President Buzz Hargrove, sent notice to CN requesting to commence collective agreement negotiations with the Company.  The current CAW CN Collective Agreements expire at 23:59 hours December 31, 2006.  Both parties (CAW and CN) have scheduled contract negotiations to open on October 11, 2006 in Montreal. Buzz Hargrove will preside over the opening session with the CAW National Rail Bargaining Committees of Council 4000 and Local 100, as well as the CAW’s Research Department and various support staff.    [More]

October 10, 2006 Results from the CAW Local 4001/Council 4000 CN Bargaining Survey   The results from the recent survey of CN members to determine priorities for the upcoming round of contract negotiations with CN, reveals that a reasonable wage increase, given the Company's continued financial success and taking into account the rising costs in today’s strong economy, tops the list of priorities for this round of collective bargaining.  This is followed by: 2.) Improvements to the Dental Plan; 3.) Establish Paid Sick Leave in the collective agreements; 4.) Improve the Vision Plan; 5.) Eliminate the Life Time Maximum of the Extended Health Care Plan (EHCP); 6.) Lower the years of service that is required for 5-weeks and 6-weeks vacation; 7.) Improve Work Ownership language in the collective agreements, and 8.) Increase WIB (Great West Life) payments. Over 87% of survey respondents suggested they do not want Orthodontic coverage increased at the expense of other benefits or benefit increases.  Instead, members would prefer to see improvements to existing benefits such as Dental, Vision, and the Extended Health Care Plan, and to establish new Paid Sick Leave provisions. Click here to access the survey results. [PDF]

October 16, 2006 CAW opens bargaining with Canadian National Railway Co. in Montreal   The CAW bargaining committee at CN officially opened bargaining with the rail company Wednesday, October 11 at CN’s Headquarters in Downtown Montreal. The CAW represents 4,400 members at CN.  CAW Council 4000 represents 2,400 members of that total, including clerical, Intermodal, skilled trades and 350 truck owner-operators.  CAW Local 100 represents 2,000 shopcraft workers.   [More]

October 20, 2006   CAW Railfax:  Collective Bargaining opens with CN Rail

October 29, 2006 CAW / CN Bargaining continues the next two-weeks    Collective bargaining between the CAW and CN starts up again the weeks of October 30th in Toronto (Richmond Hill) and November 6th in Montreal.  The week of October 30th will see the parties work to resolve outstanding grievances on the system as part of the Union's demands served on the Company going into bargaining.  The following week will see the bargaining committees travel to Montreal to continue negotiations on new collective agreements. Negotiations with CN commenced on October 11th in what was more of a ceremonial meeting and where both sides discussed their concerns and goals for this round of collective bargaining.  The following two-days (October 12 & 13) were spent discussing job security issues.   The week of November 6th will see sub-committees formed to start to concentrate on the various demands submitted by the Union and its membership, including Pensions and Benefits, Health & Safety and work rules. Click here for a list of outstanding Council 4000/Local 4001 Mountain Region grievances that will be discussed on November 3rd.   [PDF]

November 21, 2006 CN Bargaining update The CAW Bargaining Committee met with CN management on the weeks of October 30th and November 6th in Toronto.  The first week was dedicated to dealing with the significant amount of grievances in the CN system.  For the most part, it was a successful week in which the bargaining committee was able, by region, to resolve a number of grievances most of which dealt with discipline and demerit points.  There were a number of difficult cases and for some of these we are awaiting further clarification from the company. The second week (November 6th) dealt with the presentation of the union’s proposals primarily in the area of work rules in Montreal.   There is no question it was a challenging week as we outlined the important changes that our membership and leadership are determined to resolve. The Union has a further week scheduled with CN in Montreal the week of November 20th.  The parties have also tentatively scheduled the week of December 20th.   The Conciliators from Labour Canada were present for the week of November 6th and have notified the Union that we are in a legal position on January 10th.  The bargaining committee will be having further discussions concerning future dates, including strike votes in the system.  We remain optimistic that we can reach a settlement without a dispute. The bargaining committee has continued to highlight to CN the significant profits they report and that the workers absolutely deserve their fair and equitable agreement.  In addition, the productivity improvements that equal over 30% in the last two years are an important measure as we move through these negotiations.  The CAW will continue to take the position that CN’s overall economic condition supports its demands on work rule changes, wages, pensions and benefits.   Further updates will be made available as the information becomes available. Source:  CAW Railfax

December 6, 2006 VIA Negotiations The week of November 27, the CAW Bargaining Committees from VIA Agreements 1, 2 and 3 commenced their second week of negotiations with VIA Rail Canada.  The entire week was dedicated to the numerous demands that were submitted by the CAW VIA Rail membership from on board (Agreement 1), off train (Agreement 2) and the shop craft (Agreement 3). Bargaining was positive as each bargaining committee went through the proposals with the VIA management bargaining committee.   VIA management are taking the Union’s proposals seriously as the bargaining committee is in absolute agreement that the day-to-day issues facing our membership must be addressed and corrected. In addition, CAW National Representative Jo-Ann Hannah from the National Pension and Benefits Department of CAW gave VIA its presentation on the Union’s pension and benefits demands covering all three agreements. There was significant discussion concerning apprenticeship programs for Agreement 3.  On November 30th, the Director of the CAW Skilled Trades Department, Colin Heslop, provided a detailed explanation and overview of the important demands tabled by our membership and leadership. The CAW will be scheduling further meetings with VIA following the completion of the CN negotiations.  The tentative schedule for VIA would likely be early February 2006.   Source:  CAW Railfax

December 6, 2006 CN Negotiations continue during month of December The CAW continues negotiations with CN.  The parties are in a legal strike or lockout for mid-January 2007.  Further bargaining dates have been scheduled for December 11th through to December 20th in Montreal.  The CAW will be contacting its CN membership following meetings with CN the week of December 4th and will provide them with full and complete information on the status of negotiations going forward.

December 18, 2006 CAW to conduct strike votes to solidify its position at the CN Bargaining table    The CAW will be conducting strike votes across Canada to strengthen its position during their current contract negotiations with Canada's largest railway, Canadian National.  Strike votes will be conducted from January 3 to January 6, 2007.  Dates and locations for CAW Council 4000 (Local 4001) Mountain Region strike vote meetings will be finalized before the end of the week of December 18th.   The CAW is also establishing strike committees in all locations.   Strike votes will be taken by the CAW Master Bargaining Committees, Local Presidents and Strike Committees of Council 4000 for Agreement 5.1 and Intermodal Supplemental Agreement, Agreement 5.4 and CNTL Owner Operator Collective Agreement, as well as CAW Local 100. There is no question that these strike vote meetings are absolutely critical to a successful round of negotiations with CN.  The membership must send CN a very clear message that although we are committed to reaching a dispute-free settlement, CN must understand that our members are prepared to stand up and fight if necessary to get a solid collective agreement, which takes into account, among other items, CN's productivity gains that were achieved by the hard work of our membership.  CN has tabled a number of concessionary proposals dealing with contracting out, employment security, general holidays, pensions, rest breaks, overtime rules, hours of work and seniority groupings. For more details, click here to read the most recent CAW Railfax  [PDF]

January 9, 2007 CAW membership at CN provides Union with Strike Mandate The bargaining units of CAW National Council 4000 and CAW Local 100 at CN conducted strike votes on December 28, 2006 and January 2 through January 6, 2007.  The CAW and CN have agreed, through the assistance of Federal Conciliators, to a bargaining deadline of 23:59 hours January 17, 2007.  The CAW may enforce legal strike action effective midnight January 18, 2007.  The CAW represents approximately 4,500 employees who are employed at CN.  All locations counted the votes on January 8th and the results are as follows:   [More]

January 12, 2007 Buzz Hargrove joins Bargaining Committees at CN Bargaining Table CAW President Buzz Hargrove and the CAW Master Bargaining Committees at CN met Thursday with CN President & CEO Hunter Harrison as contract talks at the rail company continue in Toronto.  The two sides discussed a number of key issues including wages, job security, outsourcing and a host of other master and local bargaining issues.   [More]

January 14, 2007 Tough Bargaining: Concessions off the table at CN As negotiations at CN move forward, CAW bargaining committees representing shopcraft, clerical, supplemental and owner operator members continue to work hard and are reporting that the vast majority of company concession demands have been removed.  CAW President Buzz Hargrove said the hard work of the bargaining committees is paying off in this long, tough process.   [More]

January 17, 2007 CAW Rail Leadership endorse new tentative agreement with CN Nearly 100 Local union leaders from CAW National Council 4000 and Local 100 from across the country gathered for an information meeting in Toronto on Tuesday, January 16th to review details of the recently finalized tentative agreements that were reached with CN on January 15th.  The CN leadership voted unanimously in support of the new tentative collective agreements.   [More]

January 15, 2007 CAW and CN reach tentative agreement After several weeks of tough bargaining, CAW National Council 4000 and CAW Local 100 reached a tentative collective agreement on January 15th with Canadian National Railway Co. in Toronto.  The agreement is subject to ratification by CAW members who work for CN and Canadian National Transportation Limited.  More than 100 CAW Local leaders from the rail sector will converge in Toronto January 16 to meet with the bargaining committees to discuss the details of the tentative contract offer prior to the ratification process.   [More]