UPDATE 1-Canada’s labor union says no progress in talks with CN Rail

(Adds detail, background)

Nov 25 (Reuters) – Labor union Teamsters Canada said on Monday it has made no progress in reaching an agreement with Canadian National Railway Co, the country’s biggest railroad.

We are “no closer to reaching an agreement than when the strike began,” union spokesman Chris Monette told Reuters by phone.

Some 3,200 unionized employees with the Teamsters, including conductors and yard workers are in the seventh day of what is Canada’s biggest rail strike in a decade. The dispute is largely over union demands for improved working conditions, including worker rest breaks.

A CN spokesman said on Monday railway officials continue to negotiate and call for binding arbitration, a demand the union has so far rejected. A spokeswoman for Canadian Labor Minister Filomena Tassi could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a tweet on Saturday, Tassi said the federal government was monitoring the situation closely. Talks between CN and union officials were ongoing but no deal had been reached, she said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has so far sidestepped demands to end the strike and force workers back to their jobs, with officials insisting collective bargaining is the fastest way to solve the dispute.

Economists have estimated a prolonged strike could hit already slowing growth expected by year’s end while costing the Canadian economy billions. (Reporting by Kelsey Johnson in Ottawa, Allison Lampert in Montreal and Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Nick Zieminski)

Article Courtesy of CNBC

%d bloggers like this: