Trying to put the heat on CN, the CAW looks to the federal government to provide some spark

TORONTO — The Canadian Auto Workers union is asking the federal Labour Minister to restore its right to negotiate — including the right to strike — in order to counter Canadian National Railway’s announced elimination of 3000 jobs, of which 1075 belong to CAW members.

“We’re formally charging CN with bargaining in bad faith,” said CAW president Buzz Hargrove. “CN knew the layoffs were coming, but deliberately said nothing until after our members ratified a three-year agreement in September so as not to have to negotiate the issue with us while we still had the right to strike. And that’s illegal.”

Under the Canada Labour Code, Labour Minister Claudette Bradshaw must give her consent before the CAW can proceed with charges against CN to the federal Labour Board.

Last Friday, CN refused the union’s demand to open formal negotiations, Hargrove said. He called on the Minister to act quickly in order to get CN back to the bargaining table.
As part of the bad faith bargaining charges, the CAW wants the right to re-open contract negotiations and maintain its right to strike.

Hargrove disputed CN’s remarks that CAW members at the railway are working more than one million hours of overtime a year — or the equivalent of almost 600 additional full-time jobs. Attempts by workers to refuse overtime have been met by threats of legal and disciplinary action, he said. The union has demanded an end to all non-emergency overtime, and a halt to handing CAW work over to contractors, non-union employees, and part-time or occasional workers.

“If CN meets our demands, there will be no need for layoffs — and it can save our share of the $590 million as well,” said Hargrove, referring to the special charge which CN declared last month as the cost of its layoff plan.

The CAW previously charged that CN’s layoff announcement was primarily driven not by the operational requirements of the railway but rather by the need to show investors that CN was “acting boldly in the face of declining revenues and market share,” the union said.

Hargrove would not rule out other pressure tactics against CN, including direct contact with customers; an inquiry into excessive and possibly unlawful levels of overtime; and concrete action to bring overtime levels into synch with legal requirements.