CAW and ONR conclude bid discussions

Discussions regarding a contract bid have been completed between the Ontario Northland Railway and one of its unions.

Further details are included in the following news release issued Tuesday night around 11 p.m.:
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Ontario Northland and the CAW Local 103 concluded discussions Tuesday, setting the stage for a quick and efficient up-shifting of staff and infrastructure, should GO Transit award the contract to refurbish 71 of their bi-level commuter coaches to ONTC.

"We are very pleased with the results of the week-long discussions we've had with management and believe the understanding we've reached will greatly help position Ontario Northland's bid at the top of the competition, making it very difficult for GO Transit to overlook us," said CAW President Brian Stevens.

Ontario Northland is one of a number of expectant bidders for a multi year contract to refurbish GO Transit rail cars with an expected value of near $75 million should the contract option of 50 additional cars (total 121) be picked up by GO Transit.

The bid deadline is this Thursday.

"Both parties understood clearly that we would need to put in place the right mechanisms in advance of any hiring so we can roll this out with confidence should we succeed in our bid," Stevens said.

"If ONTC is chosen, we could see 30 new hires almost
immediately with expectation of being in full GO program mode by early September. As a result the company and union needed to come to an understanding on how to manage that while still continuing with scheduled maintenance work that's required in operating the railway."

The CAW and ONTC deal provides for industry specific training for new hires who may come from outside the rail industry and how contemplated construction would be managed onsite.

Agreement was also reached on how some work will be re-distributed from North Bay to Cochrane, re-organization of the North Bay rail shop as well as mechanism to help ONTC increase the diversity of its workforce.

"Energy level is pretty high amongst the membership. A lot of people have worked long and hard on putting together a competitive bid and locking in a revenue stream of $10M a year would be great news for the whole region. GO Transit work would be a tremendous catalyst to the organization and we have confidence in our bid team and in our role supporting this effort" concluded Stevens


The CAW represents approximately 400 unionized workers at Ontario Northland whose members perform work in ever sector of the organization, from Rail and Bus division mechanics to clerical workers in ONTelcom, On-Board service staff on the passenger trains, to housekeeping staff at the Cochrane Station Inn. The CAW represents ONTC employees in North Bay, Englehart, New Liskeard, Kirkland Lake, Cochrane, Timmins, Hearst, Kapuskasing, Moosonee and Rouyn Quebec.