HOMEWOOD, Ill., June 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CN (TSX:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced today that the 475 locomotive engineers on the Company’s Illinois Central (IC) property in the United States have successfully ratified a new collective agreement.

This contract, which runs through Dec. 31, 2019, provides wage and benefit improvements in each year of the agreement, in line with the national railway pattern.  

“This renewed collective bargaining agreement once more demonstrates CN’s desire and commitment to work together with our employees and their representatives, in this case, the BLET, to address workplace issues, in a respectful and mutually beneficial manner,” said Mike Cory, CN executive vice-president and chief operating officer. “CN is very pleased to have renewed the collective agreement with the locomotive engineers who work on the Illinois Central, which ensures uninterrupted service to our customers and the overall North American economy.”

Clay Craddock, general chairman of the BLET for the IC said: “This deal represents the collective efforts of the officers of the Brotherhood and of the Company. The engineers that voted ratified this agreement overwhelmingly. ”

CN is a true backbone of the economy whose team of approximately 25,000 railroaders transports more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries – serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information about CN, visit the Company’s website at www.cn.ca.