IAM District 19 General Chairman Heath Jacobs has negotiated a first-of-its-kind shift swap agreement at the Canadian National Railway Company (CN). The temporary memorandum aims to give IAM members more opportunity to have time off work without being charged for absenteeism.
The agreement covers IAM members at CN’s Locomotive Repair Center in Homewood, IL, commonly referred to as Woodcrest, and runs from July 1 through Oct. 31, 2023.
“We will continue to push for similar agreements across the nation with all railroads,” said Jacobs, who worked on the agreement for the past several months. “We will not stop trying to find new ways for our members to have a better quality of life.”