MONTREAL, Que. — Theres no hope of reaching agreement on a national collective agreement with striking members of the United Transportation (UTU), CN Rail concluded today.

CN said one faction of the UTU is reporting for work, awaiting the outcome of the raid application by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference pending before the Canada Industrial Relations Board. Another UTU faction is engaging in rotating withdrawals of service, in support of the UTU’s bargaining position.

In light of the continuing internal conflicts within the UTU, CN believes it’s increasingly clear that the union today is unable to deliver a national negotiated settlement that its members across Canada would ratify, CN stated in a release.

CN has invited the union back to the bargaining table to address and negotiate regional settlements.

“This bargaining process is broken. After eight months of negotiations, we are no closer to a national agreement. Since the start of negotiations, the union has failed to present a unified agenda that could be used as a foundation for a negotiated settlement. CN would like to achieve workforce stability with its conductors. We now feel that regional deals are the best alternative to achieve this at the bargaining table,”
president and Chief Executive Officer E. Hunter Harrison said.

Harrison continued: “CN reached three major settlements with one of Canada’s largest unions in January. We hope that by focusing on regional common interests, we can reach negotiated agreements in the best interests of our employees and business.”

No new talks with the UTU are currently scheduled at this time.

UTU members in Canada have been on strike at CN since Feb. 10.

CN continues to try to keep its service going with management personnel performing the duties of locked out UTU members.