Via Rail narrowly avoided the prospect of immediately suspending services across Canada after a strike deadline was extended until Monday afternoon.
Unifor issued a 72-hour strike notice to the national rail carrier on Friday, saying 2,400 employees were ready to walk off the job if a new contract could not be negotiated by 12:01 a.m. Monday.
A strike would see maintenance workers, on-board service staff, chefs, sales agents and customer service staff hitting all pickets and forcing Via to suspend services across the country.
However, Unifor released a statement on its website and social media, saying the strike deadline has been extended to 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday.
Unifor’s national secretary-treasurer said in the statement, released Sunday night, that its bargaining committees are “firm” in pursuing a deal that “respects and values” workers.
Unifor said job security is the top issue on the table during labor negotiations.
Early Monday morning, Via Rail released its own statement, saying it was committed to reaching a fair and reasonable deal.
President and CEO Martin R Landry also noted that with the summer travel season here, the threat of a strike has created additional stress for the company’s passengers and the communities it serves. .
Via also promised to allow its customers to make changes to their travel plans without a service charge for any departures before July 31, 2022.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 11, 2022