Rail Industry News
September 2000

September 19, 2000
Vancouver, British Columbia

BC Rail Seeks Time for Unions to Clarify Bargaining Roles

Vancouver, BC, 19 September 2000, from BC Rail website - BC Rail has asked the BC Labour Relations Board to extend the deadlines to begin the collective bargaining process.

The Labour Relations Board of British Columbia is currently overseeing a certification process involving members of the Council of Trade Unions (CTU), as a result of applications from various unions to represent groups of employees at BC Rail.

Until the representation issue has been resolved, BC Rail’s ability to bargain is impaired by not knowing who are the true representatives of the Company's unionized employees. As a result, BC Rail should not be obligated to begin negotiations.

BC Rail employs about 1,500 unionized workers on a total workforce of about 2,000.

Further information is available at BC Rail's Labour Relations Webpage at http://www.bcrail.com/labour/index.htm.

BCRail is Canada’s third largest railway, operating exclusively in British Columbia with interline connections to all rail-served points in North America. BCRail serves industries such as forest products, coal, sulphur, petroleum products, chemicals and grain. BCRail also operates barging, passenger services and intermodal operations.

[ DEPARTMENTS ]