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VIA Rail Negotiations Update
Dear Members
Council 4000 and Local 100 master bargaining committees continue negotiations with VIA Rail. Council 4000 met from January 27 to 31 and February 3 to 5, while Local 100 held sessions from February 3 to 7. Additional bargaining dates have been scheduled for the week of March 24 to 28.
VIA Rail has proposed significant concessions aimed at creating a more flexible workforce, which they claim is necessary to meet the demands of the new fleet and the eventual replacement fleet outside the corridor.
Your bargaining committees have voiced serious concerns to VIA Rail and the federal government about work ownership and the future of corridor service due to the threat of privatization.
That threat is real.
The government of Canada has already laid the groundwork to contract out this work to private enterprise by establishing VIA HFR-TGF Inc. as an independent, wholly owned Crown corporation. This entity will be responsible for awarding contracts and overseeing the private consortium that will build and manage the High Frequency Rail (HFR) project.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) process for the HFR project and the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process concluded in April 2023. The three consortia still in the running are:
Cadence: CDPQ Infra, AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC-Lavalin), Systra Canada, Keolis Canada
Intercity Rail Developers: Intercity Development Partners, Kilmer Transportation, First Rail Holdings, Jacobs, Hatch, CIMA+, FirstGroup, RATP Dev Canada, Renfe Operadora
QConnexiON Rail Partners: Fengate, John Laing, Bechtel, WSP Canada, Deutsche Bahn
The government has not yet announced the successful bidder. Once announced, the transition process for corridor service will begin, but the details of how this transition will unfold remain unclear.
Unifor’s legal department is examining the potential impact of these developments and assessing whether protections under the Canada Labour Code, collective agreements, and supplemental agreements will be sufficient to safeguard our members from potential job losses to the private sector. This task is particularly challenging due to limited information on how the business will be structured.
The bargaining committee has requested further details from VIA Rail as negotiations continue.
We strongly urge members to avoid speculation and to rely on the RailLine for accurate and official updates on the progress of bargaining.
In solidarity,
Council 4000 and Local 100 VIA Rail Master Bargaining Committees
