12 November 2008
Teamsters Call on Transport Canada to Probe CP Rail's Increasing Number of On-Track Collisions, Safety Violations
In the wake of a recent on-track collision
south of Calgary involving propane tanks and a separate British Columbia court
decision finding CP Rail responsible for the death of an employee, Teamsters
Canada is calling on Transport Canada to investigate public safety issues at
the railroad.
"There is a startling increase in the number of safety rules violations
at CP Rail and workers and the public are being put at risk needlessly," says
William Brehl, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, Maintenance
of Way Employees Division, and a member of Transport Canada's Advisory Council
on Railway Safety.
In a formal letter to Transport Canada calling for an investigation, Mr.
Brehl writes: "The union is growing increasingly concerned about the number of
inexperienced and inadequately trained employees operating CP's on-track and
other potentially dangerous equipment. The problem seems to be especially
acute in Western Canada, where the company is dealing with an abundance of new
and inexperienced employees."
In September, the Transportation Safety Board released numbers stating
there have been 9,960 train collisions and derailments - about three per day -
across Canada over the last decade, dating back to 1 Jan 1999.
The latest CP Rail on-track collision that spurred the call for a probe
occurred on 4 Nov 2008 near Fort Macleod, Alberta. A heavy machine called a
rail heater carrying propane tanks hit a maintenance truck on the track. The
driver of the rail heater had less than a year's experience and had not been
given CP Rail's basic machine operators' course.
Only weeks before, a British Columbia court fined CP Rail $250,000 in the
2005 death of employee Bob Martin, who was sent into a tunnel to break ice
from walls without the proper equipment or training. Ice crashed down and
killed Mr. Martin.
"These are just some of the many safety rules violations," says Mr.
Brehl. "When it comes to public safety and the protection of its workers, CP
Rail is playing Russian roulette but euphemistically calling it part of its
"efficiency" program to cut costs."
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