VIA Rail and UNIFOR reach a new Tentative Agreement

Montréal, June 12, 2016 - VIA Rail Canada announced that it has reached a tentative agreement with UNIFOR, the union that represents the 1,800 of 2,500 of VIA Rail employees who work in stations, customer service centres, maintenance centres and administrative offices. With the threat of strike over, all VIA Rail trains and services will continue to operate as normal, without interruption.

"We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement. The positive outcome of these negotiations accurately reflects the focus of all employees of the corporation to provide superior service to our passengers.” said Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, President and CEO of VIA Rail. “We thank the local UNIFOR leadership team and its national president Jerry Dias as well as our respective negotiating teams for their dedication and commitment throughout the process. We appreciate the professionalism and support that Labour Canada's mediation team demonstrated under the experienced leadership of Guy Breton, Director General, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services. This agreement allows the corporation to move ahead positively with its many different projects and initiatives aimed at making VIA Rail service the greener, more human and smarter way to move people in Canada. "

Customers with inquiries concerning their travel plans may contact 1 888 VIA-RAIL (842-7245), 1 800 268-9503 (hearing impaired), or check VIA Rail’s website at viarail.ca.

About VIA Rail Canada

As Canada's national rail passenger service, VIA Rail (viarail.ca) and its 2,500 employees are mandated to provide safe, efficient and economical passenger transportation service, in both official languages of our country. VIA Rail operates intercity, regional and transcontinental trains linking over 400 communities across Canada, and safely transports nearly four million passengers annually. The Corporation was awarded seven Safety Awards by the Railway Association of Canada over the last eight years. For more information, visit: www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail.