CN and UTU reach tentative hourly-rate labor agreement on DM&IR territory

DULUTH, MN, July 27 /CNW Telbec/ - CN (TSX:CNR)(NYSE:CNI) announced today that it has reached a tentative labor agreement with the United Transportation Union (UTU) for UTU-represented employees working on the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Company (DM&IR). CN purchased the DM&IR as part of its May 2004 acquisition of the rail and marine holdings of Great Lakes Transportation LLC.

The new labor pact, which is subject to ratification, would settle wage and work-rule issues for 74 trainmen for the period from January 2004 to September 2012. The agreement would replace the traditional mileage/ rule-based agreement with one based upon hourly wages and job security. Most of CN's U.S. train and engine employees work under hourly-rate labor contracts.

The UTU members on the DM&IR are principally involved in operating CN trains hauling pelletized iron ore in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca.

For further information: Media: Mark Hallman, Director, Communications & Public Affairs, [phone]; Investors: Robert Noorigian, Vice-President, Investor Relations, [phone]