SeeIn making its choices, the university made sure to pick a diverse group of leaders from the fields of art, science, business, and community involvement, U of A chancellor Eric Newell said.
Among the selections, the choice of Harrison has the potential to cause some controversy since it was one of his company’s trains that derailed and spilled oil into Wabamun Lake in 2005.
CN was criticized for its handling of the incident in the early days following the spill.
But Newell said Harrison is a worthy choice to speak to business graduates because he is widely recognized as one of the top executives in his field, and CN’s operational headquarters are based in Edmonton.
CUPE Staff Strike Update: Staffers hit the bricks
The bottom line: Did CN push too hard?
In his four years at the throttle, Hunter Harrison has revolutionized how CN Rail does business, driving productivity, boosting the stock price by 150 per cent and making $56-million in 2005 for himself in his pursuit of a "precision railroad."
Five day stock price during strike
CNR (Canadian National Railway Company ) Last: $54.45 Change: +0.51 (+0.95%)
Revenue (ttm): $7,716.0M EPS: 3.91 Market Cap: $27,493.13M Time: 4:23pm ET
The strike is unlikely to have much of an impact on Canada's economy if it's settled within a month, Robert Hogue, a Bank of Montreal economist, said today in a report. ``While the current impact on business and many remote communities can be heavy, much of the broader economic toll, if any, will only surface if the strike carries on significantly longer,'' Hogue said.
SeeLee Rawsthorne of the United Transportation Union local in Winnipeg said the returnees include about 150 workers in Winnipeg, roughly 30 in Dauphin and about six in Brandon.
Workers in Melville, Sask., are also reported to have laid down their picket signs.
Rawsthorne said the national union may not approve of the return to the job, but he said workers felt it was the right thing to do.
"It was never our intention to damage our country," he told CBC News. "It was to try to negotiate a deal.
Government readies back-to-work order as CN strikers reject voluntary return
The Canada Industrial Relations Board refused to rule the wages-based strike illegal Monday after Blackburn said he wanted the dispute "ended in hours, not days."
The union had said it would send its members back if CN's request for a back-to-work order were approved by the board.
Asked how the union would respond to a legislated order, Wilner said: "Well, they have to get it passed first. Our understanding is that they don't have the votes and they could wind up having to call new elections if they fail."
There is plenty of precedent for federal back-to-work legislation, particularly in the railway sector. Such laws have been enacted 31 times since 1950, including six times in the rail industry, most recently in 1995.
In Prince George, B.C., the wheels on the locomotive came off the rails along tracks between a pulp mill and a refinery, said a CN spokesman.
He also said the role played by replacement workers and managers will be part of the investigation.
union representatives say it shows the dangers of supervisors running trains when they have little experience.
Which reminded me of this song by Joe Hill, changed to reflect the guilty.
The Workers on the CN line to strike sent out a call;
But Casey Jones, the engineer, he wouldn't strike at all;
His boiler it was leaking, and its drivers on the bum,
And his engine and its bearings, they were all out of plumb.
Casey Jones kept his junk pile running;The workers said to Casey: "Won't you help us win this strike?"
Casey Jones was working double time;
Casey Jones got a wooden medal,
For being good and faithful on the CN line.
Casey Jones hit the river bottom;When Casey Jones got up to heaven, to the Pearly Gate,
Casey Jones broke his blessed spine;
Casey Jones was an Angelino,
He took a trip to heaven on the CN line.
He said: "I'm Casey Jones, the guy that pulled the CN freight."
"You're just the man," said Peter, "our musicians went on strike;
You can get a job a'scabbing any time you like."
Casey Jones got up to heaven;They got together, and they said it wasn't fair,
Casey Jones was doing mighty fine;
Casey Jones went scabbing on the angels,
Just like he did to workers of the S. P. line.
Casey Jones went to Hell a'flying;
"Casey Jones," the Devil said, "Oh fine:
Casey Jones, get busy shovelling sulphur;
That's what you get for scabbing on the CN Line."
UTU asked for wage increases of 4.5 percent in the first two years of a three-year contract and 4 percent in the third, CN said. "The UTU's final offer on lump sum bonus payments - C$1,000 ($840) per year over the three-year period - was three times greater than the other recent agreements," CN said.
| RANK | COMPANY (Year-End) | EMPLOYEES | HEAD OFFICE | REVENUE/ EMPLOYEE | PROFIT/ EMPLOYEE |
|---|
| 34. Canadian National Railway (De05) | 21,540 | Montreal,QC | $336,676 | $74,420 |
 | Canadian National Railway Co. | Harrison, Hunter | $56,219,496 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Canadian National Railway Co. said on Saturday that 2,800 of its conductors and yard-service workers at its operations in Canada began a strike, a work stoppage that could affect the country's key shipments of grain, timber and other commodities.CN, Canada's largest railway, said it was putting management personnel on trains and in switching yards to continue freight operations across Canada because of the strike by members of the United Transportation Union (UTU).
CN said the strike is restricted to Canada and its other unionized employees remain at work.
CN said it was ready to negotiate with the UTU at any time, but the company was seeking to have the strike declared illegal because CN said it had been informed that the certified bargaining agent of the UTU members employed at the rail company had not authorized the walkout.
CN says that the proper union representatives did not authorize the strike action and will file a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board.
The union admits that while its international president has not provided authorization, it does not affect the legality of the strike.
Rex Beatty, a representative for the UTU said in a statement that the union was “disappointed that it could not reach a negotiated settlement.”
The union submitted an offer to CN that included 3 percent wage increases, paid every Jan. 1 between 2007 and 2009 and also sought a $1,000 bonus paid to employees March 1.
Unions
This law will be the New Deal of the 21st century if it is passed.Employee Free Choice Act Hearings Begin in Congress
But the right wing is mobilizing to oppose it."Under current law, an employer can already agree to collective bargaining with the union on behalf of his workers when a majority of them have signed union authorization cards. But if the employer wants to make sure that his workers weren't pressured into signing the cards, or if he wants to try to convince them that they will have more flexibility without a union or even that the union may end up destroying jobs, he can insist on an open campaign period followed by a secret ballot election.
The new bill, on the other hand, would force the employer to recognize the union solely on the basis of cards collected by union organizers, collected before the employer even has a chance to make his case to the employees".
Linda Chavez is president of Stop Union Political Abuse.
Currently, workers do not have “free choice” when going through the NLRB petition and election process, Sweeney said. Instead, he said, the petition “triggers a bitter, divisive and often lengthy anti-union campaign designed to chill or destroy union support.”
He continued, “The NLRB process may be called an ‘election,’ but it is nothing like any democratic election held in any other part of our society.”
Hey don't forget the NRA.
The idea behind EFCA is simple. Most any American can join a group -- a church group, the PTA at their child's school, or the National Rifle Association -- by signing a card and paying dues. With EFCA, if a majority at a workplace wants to build a union, they sign cards and the employer recognizes their wishes. Negotiations for a labor contract begin soon after.
The University of Illinois at Chicago's Center for Urban Economic Development released a study in December 2005 that found outrageous instances of employer resistance when workers decide to form a union: 30 percent of employers fire pro-union workers; 49 percent of employers threaten to close a worksite when workers try to unionize; 82 percent of employers hire union- busting consultants to fight organizing drives; and 91 percent of employers force employees to attend anti-union meetings one-on-one with supervisors.In Canada several provinces have this labour legislation in place, including binding mediation on a first contract. The result has been less first contract strikes and union busting.
But right now tens of millions of workers can't join unions even when they want to. The Bush administration, which is anti-union to its dying breath, controls federal agencies like the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees labor disputes between workers and their bosses.
This means that Bush-appointees don't settle disputes fairly, but automatically favor companies and typically refuse to protect workers' rights.
But even when Bush appointees aren't tipping the scale to hurt workers, the system of arbitration and labor relations always favors the companies. Even when a majority of workers at a shop or business sign union membership saying they want their union to represent them in collective bargaining, companies have the power to refer the dispute to an NLRB election. This referral gives them something like 6 weeks to change the workers' minds.
And they really go to town on the workers. Threats and harassment are all too common. Bosses will even stage mandatory meetings of workers where they feed the workers a lot of anti-union propaganda like claims that unions will either strike or force the shop to close.
Surveys indicate that more than half of all bosses threaten – illegally – to shut down the workplace and move out of the area or country if the workers decide to join a union. As many as 25 percent of workers who are trying to start a union at their workplace are either fired or threatened with being fired – illegally.
