Question Period Note: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BETWEEN CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY COMPANY AND THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS, SYSTEM COUNCIL NO. 11

Current status of the collective bargaining negotiations between Canadian National Railway Company and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, System Council No. 11

• On June 18, 2022, the union commenced a general unlimited strike.
• A mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is continuing to work with the parties to help them come to an agreement.
• I urge the parties to work together to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.
• Our government respects and has faith in the collective bargaining process. We believe that the best deals are the ones reached by the parties at the bargaining table.
• I am monitoring the situation closely.

The Canadian National Railway Company (“CN” or the “employer”) is the largest railway in Canada and transports more than 300 million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and finished goods throughout North America every year.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (“IBEW” or the “union”) represents approximately 70,000 Canadian workers, including over 1400 Signal and Communications employees throughout Canada.

CN and IBEW are negotiating the renewal of their collective agreement (agreement 1.1), which expired on December 31, 2021, covering all signals and communication employees (750), including coordinators, testmen, technicians, leading maintainers, maintainers, leading mechanics, mechanics, assistants, linemen apprentices and helpers.

On March 28, 2022, a conciliation officer from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was appointed. Meetings with the parties were held on April 5-6, 11-12, May 3-5 and 25-26, 2022.

On May 30, 2022, a mediator was appointed to further assist the parties in their negotiations.

On June 7, 2022, the union membership voted in favour of strike action.

On June 15, 2022, the union gave a notice to the employer, advising that strike action will commence on June 18, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. EDT if no agreement is reached by then.

On June 17, 2022, the mediator met with the parties but they were unable to reach an agreement.

On June 18, 2022 at 00:01, the parties acquired the legal right to strike or lockout. No agreement on the maintenance of activities has been reached by the parties in the event of a strike or lockout.

On June 18, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. EDT, the union commenced an unlimited legal strike. FMCS continues to work with the parties.

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