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Canadian National nears lock-out of major union

OTTAWA -- Canadian National Railway, which has asked the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to okay its takeover of the Illinois Central, is nearing Canadian government clearance to lock out its major employee union of 6,500 workers.

Lawrence MacAulay, Canada's labor minister, must decide by Friday the next step in a long-running dispute over a new contract between CN and the Canadian AutoWorkers Union. He has two choices. One is to appoint a federal commissioner or board to hold a second round of conciliation between CN and the union.

CN, however, has said it won't enter new talks with the union until federal conciliation efforts are ended and there is a legal lockout-strike position in effect.

His other choice is to do nothing. If that happens, a seven-day countdown starts, after which a strike or lockout is legal under Canadian law. Either could come around Aug. 14.

Two federal conciliation officers have told Mr. MacAulay that they have given up on bringing CN and the CAW to a settlement of their dispute.

The overriding unsettled issue is about pensions, and the issue of company and workers sharing future pension plan investment gains. The company has signed agreements with its other employee unions. But the CAW says income from the employee-company pension fund has surged over the past year and workers should have a better share than is provided in the other agreements.

CN has demanded that the federal government, which has jurisdiction over trans-provincial railways, end conciliation efforts between CN and the union. Starting the seven-day countdown, CN says, would pressure the CAW to settle.

The CAW has announced it will not strike before Oct. 5, by which time Canada's important grain exports will be in full swing. The CAW said that even then there would be no system-wide strike -- perhaps not even selective local strikes -- but the union would initiate work-to-rule and other pressure tactics.

Governors Seek End to Airline Dispute

MILWAUKEE -- Governors from seven states are appealing to President Clinton and Congress to intervene in a labor impasse between Northwest Airlines and its pilots union.

A letter signed Monday by the governors of Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Tennessee asks lawmakers to do everything possible to bring the parties together to resolve contract negotiations.

The National Mediation Board last week declared an impasse in contract negotiations between Northwest and the Airline Pilots Association. The impasse was declared after pilots rejected the board's offer of binding arbitration, which starts a 30-day cooling off period.

The governors claim a possible strike and interruption in air service by Northwest will isolate their states from the national and international air transportation systems. They say Northwest provides a critical transportation link between their states, the rest of the country and the world. They also say their economies have become dependent on Northwest's ``hub and spoke'' system and no other airline can replace the service lost to a strike.

The letter was signed at the 90th Annual Meeting of the National Governors Association in Milwaukee. It includes governors John Engler of Michigan, Arne Carlson of Minnesota, Terry Branstad of Iowa, Edward Schafer of North Dakota, Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin, William Janklow of South Dakota and Don Sundquist of Tennessee.

Train Dispatchers elect new leader

CLEVELAND – Bill Clifford was elected president of the American Train Dispatchers Department of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers yesterday by the Joint Board. Clifford replaces Les Parmelee who resigned citing personal reasons.

Clifford has 47 years of railroad experience, including serving as general chairman on Amtrak from 1974 until becoming ATDD Vice President in 1983.

BNSF General Chairman Gary L. Melton was elected vice president to replace Clifford.

Report: Union shops work more productively

WASHINGTON -- Union shops dominate the ranks of the country’s most productive workplaces, according to a recent analysis.

The average unionized establishment showed productivity levels 16 percent higher than a "typical" firm, which was defined as a nonunion shop with limited profit-sharing and without formal quality-enhancing methods.

The study’s authors, Lisa Lynch of Tufts University and Sandra Black of the New York Federal Reserve, say unions have the productivity advantage because most have quality-enhancing programs, union workers feel a greater stake in the companies they work for and employees can negotiate on an equal footing.

Subway car builders vote to unionize

NEW YORK -- A unit of 110 workers at Kawasaki Rail Car, which is building 400 new subway cars for New York City, voted 59-43 for representation by the Transport Workers July 31.

Union members, represented by affiliates of the Westchester-Putnam Counties AFL-CIO and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Westchester and Lower Putnam County, rallied at the Kawasaki plant gates on July 23, cheering the workers on with shouts of "Union Yes."

Russian miners, government look for compromise to end strike

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Russian authorities struggled with long-unpaid miners in the easternmost island of Sakhalin on Tuesday to forge a compromise to end an 11-day blockade of the Pacific region's key power station.

But a spokesman for the Sakhalin plant said far from all miners were ready to accept the latest government offers aimed at defusing a protest that could destroy the regional economy.

The island has had to switch to an emergency regime of 14-hour daily blackouts, causing much of the annual peak haul of fresh salmon and caviar to rot. The local authorities offered the miners 10 million rubles ($1.5 million), or two months worth of back wages, if they would free up the railroad to the plant.

"Half the miners agreed, but the other half is categorically opposed and demands full payment of the debt, some 80 million rubles," the spokesman said. Many of the miners have not been paid since December.

Itar-Tass news agency reported earlier on Tuesday that the miners had agreed temporarily to allow small shipments of coal to reach the plant to prevent a complete shut down.

Russia is trying to raise tax collection and cut spending after winning a bailout from international lenders last month.

In the Chelyabinsk region in the Ural mountains, governor Pyotr Sumin has taken emergency safety precautions in case a blockade of the trans-Siberian railroad threatened to cut off fuel to a major nuclear treatment plant, a spokesman said. Coal miners there have been blocking a rail junction for more than a week.

Russian industry has been plagued by debt, with companies failing to pay bills to one another or to the government. Many companies have withheld wages from their employees. The coal industry has been particularly hard hit. Many mines are inefficient and costly, and corrupt middlemen have been known to siphon off profits before miners can get paid.

Chinese, Trans-Siberian railroads to link up

MOSCOW --A link between the Trans-Siberian and Chinese railroads will be completed later this month in the Russian Far East, a news report said Tuesday.

The section between Russia's Makhalino and China's Hunchun stations will handle 500,00 tons of cargo in each of the next two years, and will reach the capacity of 3 million tons by 2002, said Alexander Lashin, deputy transportation chief in Russia's Primorye region, in the Far East.

The railroad will also handle passenger runs, Lashing was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. Trade between Russia and China has been increasing following the Soviet breakup and the opening of long-sealed borders.