Labour/Management

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/24/business/cn040324

CN chief executive Harrison's earnings almost doubled in 2003
Last Updated Thu, 25 Mar 2004 10:26:22
TORONTO - Canadian National (TSX:CNR) chief executive E. Hunter Harrison saw his total compensation package excluding shares rise by almost 90 per cent in 2003, according to a company filing.


INDEPTH: CN

Excluding equity elements, Harrison earned a total of almost $2.88 million US in 2003. This figure includes a base salary of $1.1 million US and a bonus of $1.43 million US.

CN Rail's logo
This compares with compensation in 2002 of almost $1.53 million US, comprising salary of $935,000 US and a bonus of $238,600 US.

"Other" compensation totalling almost $350,000 in 2003 included $22,200 for club membership fees.

The proxy circular also showed that an interest-free $653,250 US loan Harrison received in 2001, is due to be forgiven on June 30 of this year, if he is still at CN at the time. Harrison was already forgiven a $1.5 million US interest-free loan in 2001.

In 2003, Harrison also received 540,000 share options, compared with 337,500 in the previous year. The 2003 options vest in January 2013 at a price of $29.14.

CN said the rise in Harrison's package was due to the company meeting all the internal performance targets in 2003, which included revenues, operating income, earnings per share, free cash flow and return on invested capital.

Harrison's pay also rose because of his promotion to the CEO position in January 2003.

CN does not disclose the specific targets, but stated: "For the year 2003, the board [of directors] assessed the company's financial performance as having met objectives".

CN says its shares have strongly outperformed leading indices including the S&P/TSX Composite since December 1998. $100 invested in CN in December 1998 would have turned into $205, as compared with $137 if invested in an S&P/TSX index tracker.

CN's shares, which rose from just over $40 Cdn to above $50 over the past 12 months, were 80 cents lower at $50.41 Cdn in afternoon trading in Toronto.

On Tuesday, CN said a four-week strike that ended March 20 would shave about 8 to 10 cents per share of first-quarter profits in 2004.

CN is due to report Q1 earnings on April 22. Last year, CN made 69 Cdn cents a share in Q1, and the company hopes to match that this year, even after the impact of the strike and the dollar, according to Claude Mongeau, CN's chief financial officer. The forecast is below the 74 cent a share average previously expected by analysts, according to Thomson First Call.


FROM: Strike cost CN 10 cents a share off Q1 profit

Harrison was promoted from chief operating officer to president and chief executice officer on January 1, 2003. He became part of CN after the Canadian company bought Illinois Central for $2.4 billion in July 1999.
Harrison's compensation details were released by CN as a part of the company's proxy circular, issued March 22.

The proxy circular is a regulatory filing a company makes available to shareholders ahead of an annual general meeting, which in CN's case is scheduled to take place on April 22 in Edmonton.


Written by CBC News Online staff

 

Now is he really worth that much, I never understand those levels of compensation, however, I myself would personally accept it...lol.

 

Post Strike News Gene is within his right to be ticked off at this Company, there's thousands of things going on through out this Company, to numerous to mention that is really starting to irritate us employees. I'm sure Gene can add a hundred items to this list as well. Here are a few examples that i have witnessed personally, a tip of the iceberg you might say. Some are big things, IE: when they were building our new addition at the "A" building here at Mac Yard in Toronto/Concord for the new operations centre, the signal guys have their offices down stairs in the basement of the two floor building, i was told by many that the company didn't even furnish heat to the guys down there when they were doing all the wiring in the building. When they moved us in on Boxing day, very little was finished, mud all over the place outside, construction lighting inside the first floor hanging from the ceilings, no windows on the second floor, auxilary power units outside providing hydro acct no outside hydro service, auxilary heating units with ducting pipes hanging from the ceilings acct heating and airconditioning systems had not yet arrived, Propane heaters running beside us in construction areas, carbon monoxide detectors that kept going off acct false alarms? No pull type fire alarms on the walls, no fire extinguishers the first week and a half, circuit breakers that keep tripping acct not a heavy enough service to support two microvaves, a convection oven and a coffee machine in the kitchen that has to support at least fifty people at any given time, So much for Safety! Hey, they won't even give us a conventional stove with a oven to heat up our meals, yet other offices get dishwashers in theirkitchens. There's little things as well, like a new dress code in the Operations Centre, no baseball caps, no shirts promoting products ie: your favourite sports team or beverage, you can't hang your coat on the back of you chair at your desk, all because it's not professional looking. Did i mention that most of our people aren't the most savvy of dressers You know, working in a open access environment with a coat room hidden out of view in a corner with no security access locks, i'm sorry, but leaving personal belongings hanging around for somebody to steal is not my idea of safe. I was told by two managers to remove my coat from the back of my chair and place it in the coat room, when i asked for it in writting from one that the company will replace my personal belongings if stolen, the reply, "we'll deal with it when it happens". I asked for full height lockers instead of the half microwave size shoe boxes they supplied us with for my fellow brothers and sisters, the reply, it's not in the cards, deal with it! I don't recall the company asking us employees if we wanted to be a model for their operations centre. They don't ask, or care anymore as to whether you are getting a option to choose your rights or freedom of expression, they are telling you to do it or else suffer the dire consequences! They make decisions based on what is good for the immediate balance sheet and for the shareholders if it sounds good. They force us to make it happen, even though half the stuff we are forced to work with is high priced junk that you couldn't give away. They cite all sorts of pretty words, mention safety, Safety is only a word of late, if it costs money, forget it, it isn't happening. It doesn't mean anything in actuality anymore. If they can't get 110 percent out of you, you get targeted, I'm sorry but not all people are that good, they are human and not machines. Then they tell us, you have to leave management a option to save face when they are wrong when you confront them so as not to disgrace them, Excuse me! You make a mistake, own up to it, fix it or else get the heck out of the way and let real railroaders do their jobs the right way! I like the line from our previuos CEO in regards to hiring people off the street with no railroad experience, " To reduce inbreeding " Now is that respect for your people or what! The CAW marketing people that do the billing and that set rates are still correcting and disputing claims with the customers from that strike, e-billing, a novel concept, a bit out of my league as a dispatcher, but from what i've heard from the people that work with it, it'll likely drive the customers away, they'll be overcharged, The Company is planning on cutting some of those jobs from what i hear. Who is going to settle the claims with the customer, a computer? I think not! They are moving jobs back to Montreal from Toronto, they just moved jobs from Montreal to centralize not that many years ago, whether these are the same jobs hasn't been made public yet. Regardlessss, this company is in a state of MASS CONFUSION, it's a pissing contest to see who's got the biggest balls, pardon the language. All of a sudden the company has bank rolls of cash to burn, but can't pay their employees on their contract renewals??????? For what it cost the company alone in "rent a wanna be cop" security guards alone, that monitored the CAW strike, they could have given the CAW their four percent raise they were asking and still be ahead, but nope, the company has to be penny wise and pound foolish, and they want input as to how to improve operating efficiency and reduce costs, duhhhhh!!!!!!! The company proclaimed amnesity to all those CAW people on strike so that they would sign the contract, now they are reneging on their promises, people are still getting subpoenaed to appear in court after the fact, and presented with fines at their place of residence in front of their families, Guess who's name is at the bottom of the document?? I'm sorry, but when a company goes out of it's way to target employees, to force them to conform to it's policies, it is looking for a war, and i hate to say it, it is biting off more than it can chew, there are alot of employees out there that are very disgruntled, not just Gene or Myself, and it's gonna get alot worse before it gets better. Joe DI Dispatcher (this posting was copied from another site)

[ 25. April 2004, 20:30: Message edited by: Milne ]

 

CAW to charge CN for threats to whistleblower
TORONTO, Dec. 21 /CNW/ - The Canadian Auto Workers union will file
charges against Canadian National Railway for threatening to discipline a
union representative who exposed CN's hidden surveillance cameras at its
Winnipeg repair shops.
Les Lilley, the union chairperson representing 600 CAW members and a CN
employee for more than 34 years, has been summoned to a disciplinary hearing
to be held this afternoon. The allegations, which include "insubordination,"
could carry severe penalties ranging up to dismissal.
On November 24, workers in the Transcona Wheel Shop discovered a hidden
surveillance camera in an air duct. Last Thursday, Queen's Bench Justice
Wallace Darichuk granted the CAW's request for an injunction prohibiting CN
from using all but four cameras in its Transcona Shops complex, and
restricting the use of those four cameras to the protection of workers'
safety. Les Lilley conducted the in-house investigation which brought the
evidence of covert surveillance to light.
"The charges against Les are outrageous," said CAW Local 100 Prairie
Region vice-president Dennis Wray. "CN is using intimidation and reprisal
tactics to muzzle whistleblowers and divert attention from its own actions.
This is the same disturbing pattern of corporate behaviour which helped
trigger a month-long strike of 4,500 CAW members last winter."
The CAW will charge CN under a section of the Canada Labour Code which
bars employers from interfering with legitimate union activities. "Other
charges may also be laid," said CAW national representative Abe Rosner in
Montreal, "considering the proximity of the threats to the issuance of the
court injunction."
Last week the union filed a grievance as well as a formal complaint to
the federal Privacy Commissioner accusing CN of spying on Wheel Shop workers
contrary to federal legislation and asking for punitive damages for loss of
dignity and invasion of privacy. Those matters will be heard over the coming
months.

http://tinyurl.com/56wrr

M. Hall

 

Canadian RR's have historically been run like a poor man's army (and I'm in the army). Many ex-military types set the tone for the RR's early in their development. This is not my original thought, but is from historical books on CN and CP.

Many thought that the slash and burn policies at CN would clear up after Tellier left. However, the present CEO is even more of a slash an burn guy and was the "main man" supporting Tellier during Mr. T's slash and burn campaign.

Safety is being compromised, but it is long term safety and maintance that is suffering. For example, the Cisco bridge hasn't received a protective coat of paint since who knows when - and this one of the main important bridges in the west.

In a RR accident out here in BC that took the life of crewman, lack of maintance and proper inspections were to blame for the problem. The federal government used to do the inspections, but because they didn't want to be liable for an accident on a bridge that had been "approved", they decided to put the powers of inspection and approval in the RR's hands. When you know what the present and past CEO's of CN have been like, this is akin to putting the fox in charge of the hen house.

 

CN union steward fired after finding spy camera


CP 2004-12-24 02:08:05


WINNIPEG -- The Canadian National Railway Co. employee who uncovered the hidden surveillance cameras at a CN maintenance shop last month has been fired. A union official said Les Lilley, a 34-year railway employee, was informed by a letter late Wednesday that he was being terminated because he violated management-union protocols on accessing the workplace.

Abe Rosner, Canadian Auto Workers national representative, said the dismissal -- which he called a blatant move by CN Rail to intimidate employees -- will be immediately grieved.

"We're confident he'll get his job back with full compensation and CN Rail knows this, too," Rosner said.

"This can't be viewed as anything but a cynical and cold-hearted move by the company to threaten the other employees in the shops."

CN employees discovered a single surveillance camera hidden in an air duct in late November. The railway later admitted it had four cameras recording the workplace.

The railway said the cameras were installed because of unexplained equipment breakdowns.

The union applied to a court to have the cameras turned off, but the judge ruled the railway can operate as many as four cameras to monitor equipment, provided they record visual images only.

Lilley had been the shop's chief steward for several years.

While he remained on the railway's payroll, as chief steward he performed no production duties and instead worked full-time as a union official from an office at the site.

Lilley was questioned for several hours Tuesday about his involvement in discovering the cameras and whether he conformed to the management-union protocols that govern the chief steward's movements at the workplace.

Rosner said Lilley was fired for violating those protocols and for being insubordinate to the manager of the Transcona Wheel Shops.

A spokesperson for CN Rail said the company had been advised by its lawyers not to comment on the situation.

Lilley could not be reached for comment.

Rosner said the grievance process could take several months and the union is exploring other avenues in a bid to get Lilley reinstated as quickly as possible.


Copyright © The London Free Press 2001,2002,2003

Link to story - http://tinyurl.com/6axmr

 

CN is training 1,000 managers in an attempt to break an expected strike by 6,500 UTU and Teamsters members. The UTU is in a legal strike position Jan 20, and the Teamsters Jan 28. The Canada Labour Code requires the unions to give 72 hours strike notice.

 

So 1000 fresh guys who know not a heck of a lot replacing experienced people who know their territory. I think I can successfully make a prediction of how well this will work out. Not quite a UP melt down, but close.

 

2005/01/17 Montreal

The UTU announced that it was unable to reach an agreement with Canadian National Railway. Issues outstanding deal with "quality of life" not monetary. The UTU will seek a strike mandate from it's 3,500 membership.

link to press release - http://tinyurl.com/4rup3

 

January 20, 2005.

CN hires back fired Union Stewart.

A CN Rail worker who blew the whistle on his employer after illegal hidden surveillance cameras were discovered in a Transcona shop yard has his job back.

Les Lilley, a 30-year employee, was fired just days before Christmas.

The reinstatement was reported in yesterday's edition of Railfax, a newsletter for Canadian Auto Workers members. It said: "Brother Les Lilley, Location Chair at Transcona for Lodge 550, Local 100, is back at work with full compensation. Congratulations, Les, and thanks to everyone on both sides who made this happen!"

Abe Rosner, the editor of Railfax, could not be reached for comment.

The union accused the company of firing Lilley to intimidate workers after the controversy about the cameras erupted.

Legal action againist CN by both the employee and the Union will proceed.

 

<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6lf7k" target="_blank">Link to story
</a>

I have it from a reliable source that 90% of the returned ballots indicate support for a strike.

 

Steelworker members (track maintenance)have ratified an agreement with CN.

Details including agreement summary -

Steelworkers sign agreement

 

Media report

CNI insider trading information

[ March 07, 2005, 01:35 PM: Message edited by: Milne ]

 

yep... i feel that i am under paid working at CN but i am making better than many... what really is the kicker, is in toronto area, the cost of living is way high... cost of living has gone up more in the past 20 years than the wages have, so it makes it hard to buy a house. i want to buy my own home, but ±200,000 is pretty much all i can afford, and with what i am making at mac yard, i can just barely make that work, but housing at that price range is limited.. what i'd like to see on the next contract for us is 2/2/2/2 over 4 years, and an instant $5.00/hour increase before that kicks in... that would put me at the same pay range as other heavy duty mechanics...

 

CN could face strike within 72 hours

The CIRB has dismissed CN's submission.
CIRB = Canadian Industrial Relations Board

The TCRC represents about 1,750 engineers and the IBEW about 630 signal maintainers.

Canadian Industrial Relations Board ruling

 

The Canadian industrial Relations Board has issued a cease and
desist order againist CN to stop violating section 94.1 of the
Canada Labour Code, and has instructed CN to begin management
training on the proper interpretation and application of the
collective agreements.

Link to decision - http://www.cirb-ccri.gc.ca/whatsnew/index_e.asp

then click on the the "English" on this line on the page -

Canadian National Railway Company (2005), as yet unreported CIRB
decision no. 314 (English)

 

Press Release from Teamsters