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We are growing, hiring at a rapid pace and bringing in a new generation of railroaders who will carry CN well into the 21st century.

At December 31, 2010, CN employed a total of 21,967 employees in the United States and Canada.

Renewing our workforce

Workforce renewal is an issue common to every major railroad in North America, as a large percentage of current railroaders throughout the industry will be eligible to retire in the near future. Within five years, including attrition and retirements, we expect a turnover of nearly 50 per cent of our current workforce.

We continue to make great progress in replenishing our aging workforce through a number of initiatives. We have launched CN exclusive job fairs, expanded conductor training through community colleges, we have been involved with co-ops, internships, and leveraged programs such as the Supervisor Assessment Centres, Assistant Track Supervisor, Future Leader and Railroader Trainee programs.

A great deal of attention is also placed in preparing the employees we hire for a career in the railroad by familiarizing them with our railroad culture right from the start and improving how we mentor new employees. As well, we provide detailed job previews, including using videos, to prospective candidates before we hire them. Other investments in online pre-employment testing are now one of the cornerstones of CN's efficient selection process, practices that are being adopted by other companies.

Benefits and Compensation

CN offers competitive compensation and comprehensive benefit programs to attract and retain talented railroaders. To remain competitive, we regularly review the wide range of CN programs on the external market.

CN's total compensation package includes:

  • base salary
  • employee savings and share ownership plans
  • flexible benefits program
  • pension plans

The current value of CN's total compensation package is communicated annually to all managers in a personalized total compensation statement. We are also phasing in the statements for unionized employees.

Labor relations

We continue to work at forging effective working relationships with our unionized employees and their representatives. Approximately 80% of CN's workforce is represented by various unions. More (link to the 2009 Investor Fact Book)

Modern Agreements

The Hourly Rate Agreements (HRAs) CN has in place for most of our train crews in the United States are unlike any other collective agreements in the railroad industry.

HRAs offer simplified, all-inclusive hourly rates of pay and few work rules, and allow for a better quality of life for employees by providing more predictable work schedules, assigned rest days and paid personal leave days. The modern and flexible HRAs also allow CN to improve our asset utilization and service reliability, and better equip us to attract new employees.

Improving grievance resolution

CN's ground-breaking Grievance Tracking System enables real-time tracking of issues in the field for nearly 100 collective agreements in the United States and Canada, helping to speed resolution. The goal of the system, which is unique in the industry, is to improve the way grievances are handled and to foster better company-union relationships.