An important update on your contract

On Monday February 15, Unifor submitted our response to the CSN’s application to certify your bargaining unit, and remove you as a member of Unifor. Here’s what we said.

CSN’s application is not timely. They clearly waited until days after Unifor and Local 100 had concluded bargaining and secured a collective agreement to file their application.

Why would they wait? Those of you who the CSN had approached, you know that their organizers hadn’t been in the workplace for weeks before filing this application. The CSN waited until the worst possible time to file this application and we think that they’re too late.

What happens now? Unifor still doesn’t know if the CSN has even filed enough cards to qualify for a representation vote. The Canadian Industrial Relations Board will rule on that, and on the timeliness of this application, in the coming weeks, after the CSN has responds as well.

Your union respects your voice, and we will fight to make sure that every member has an opportunity to cast a ballot if the board orders a vote.

But what about the new contract? As you know, Council 4000 started the process of ratification this week. For now, we wanted to share some of the highlights from the new collective agreement with you. Check out the top-level Highlights of Agreement 3 here. This is a good deal that secured wage increases, pension gains and new and expanded benefits for everyone.

In our conversations with VIA Rail, the employer is resistant to ratifying before knowing who the union’s bargaining agent will be. The uncertainty of the CSN’s hail-Mary application is bad for us all, but we will keep you informed every step of the way.

Patrick Murray [email protected]  506-850-7996

Justin Gniposky [email protected] 416-275-6389

Simon Moreau, [email protected] 514-588-0338

Zoltan Czippel, [email protected] 604-226-5509