VIA Rail, Unifor reach tentative agreements

VIA Rail Canada Inc. today reached tentative agreements with Unifor Council 4000 and Local 100 — a development that averts a strike involving some 2,400 VIA Rail employees.

The tentative agreements are subject to a ratification vote by VIA Rail’s Unifor members. The employees work in rail stations, on trains, in maintenance centers, the VIA Customer Center and administrative offices. Once ratified, the collective agreements will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022, and remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2024.

Details of the agreements will be released following ratification, VIA Rail officials said in a press release.

"We sympathize with the passengers and communities whose plans have been impacted in the past couple of days due to the uncertainty caused by this potential strike,” said VIA President and CEO Martin Landry. “As we look forward to ratification, these tentative agreements allow our teams to get back to doing what we do best: serving Canadians throughout the country."

A strike deadline of July 11 was announced July 7 to give the public enough time to make alternative arrangements for travel. VIA Rail continues to offer customers the opportunity to make changes to their travel plans without service fees for any departures prior to July 31.