BLE Members On CN's Former IC Properties Ratify New Labor Agreement

    CLEVELAND & CHICAGO--July 29, 2002--Canadian National (CN) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) announced today the ratification of a new labor agreement by the locomotive engineers working on CN's former Illinois Central (IC) properties.
    The agreement - modeled on one approved by BLE members on CN's Wisconsin Central Division earlier this year - applies to 415 locomotive engineers and eliminates prior work rules and agreements in exchange for guaranteed time off and job security for all BLE members now qualified as engineers. It will also see engineers paid an hourly wage.
    CN will gain significantly enhanced employee productivity from the agreement, while BLE members will obtain benefits including a better balance between work and home lives.
    The three-year agreement takes effect Aug. 1, 2002.
    CN's former IC properties include the Illinois Central Railroad, running from Chicago to New Orleans, and the Chicago, Central & Pacific, which connects Chicago and Omaha, Neb., and Sioux City, Iowa.
    Founded May 8, 1863, the BLE is the oldest labor union in North America, representing 59,000 professional locomotive engineers, conductors, trainmen, train dispatchers, and other rail workers in the U.S. and Canada.
    Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.