Brother and Sisters,

Just recently on the Manitoba Service Area, a Sperry Car had detected some 300 plus track defects on one Subdivision.  On one subdivision!! Each one an unsafe condition and potential derailment.

Perhaps this testament to how bad the condition of the track is getting was too much to have the section forces at the location do the repairs in a timely manner. Of course there are timelines that are specific to when these defects must be repaired and with such a large number, I can appreciate the company’s concern (possibly bordering on panic). But it is also an indication of the serious manpower shortage.

However, even if timeliness was the issue, then what the company arbitrarily decided upon was definitely not the correct course of action. They made a decision to use sections from other subdivisions and force these sections to stay away from their homes and families until these defects are repaired.  Then they forced all of them to an 8 hour day (no overtime) so that they are stuck there all week.

This isn’t an overtime issue, it is a manpower issue.  We have to ask, are these defects on account of the shortage of manpower due to vacancies not being posted or possibly because of the recent lay-offs?  Are they because of budget restraints that aren’t allowing the important work to be done or supplying the materials and the manpower to do it?

I can understand that cost saving measures may have to be implemented but not if they entail endangering the infrastructure, the lives of our membership and/or the safety of the public at large.

The belt tightening has started and it is being practiced with no overtime coupled with layoffs, leaving skeleton crews. There does not seem to be much thought given to the employees or their families or to the mutually agreed upon language of the Wage Agreement. 

The concept of section and section crews is longstanding within Canadian Pacific, and gives form to a substantial number of the rights and obligations which the Union and the Company have negotiated over the years into the wage agreement. 

Wording such as, “time for employees not living in hotels, motels, boarding cars, or other mobile units, will start and end at designated tool houses”, (that being their bulletined headquarters), forms one of the cornerstones of section life. 

This is not a new idea (though the people interpreting it on the company’s side may be).  It has been in existence within the wage agreement, as well as in practice, for as long as I can remember. 

In the interest of better labour relations, I tried to have this matter corrected with the company.  However, I had no success at all. It appears it is a “work now and grieve later” situation.  Well, the later is here and it has been grieved.  I hope that the company realizes that short term savings always equal long term debt.

This is much more than simply a grievance; it’s a major safety concern, as well as a very important quality of life issue.  Finding this many defects on one subdivision is extremely serious and is becoming all too common. 

There is another question that also has to be asked. Who is maintaining the track that the company abandoned when they moved all of these section forces to one subdivision?  Trains are still hauling dangerous commodities across it, with no one there to maintain its already weakened integrity.

I know the guys on these sections and they will continue to work hard, just as they have faithfully done for more than twenty years. When they are finally able to return to their section limits (and hopefully not because of a derailment), they will maintain the track that has been left untended for the last two weeks.  They will pick up the pieces and once again take pride in the work they perform.  And they will continue to hope and pray that this company’s seeming disregard for the integrity of the track will not end up with tragic consequences.

Brothers and Sisters, now more than ever… while our numbers are reduced and the company continues to cut track renewal programs while refusing to invest enough in material, machinery and manpower… you must be extra vigilant. 

You must be vigilant for unsafe track conditions and being possibly talked into implementing improper work procedures.  You must be vigilant for collective agreement shortcuts that benefit management and walk all over your hard fought rights and privileges. 

But you must be especially vigilant for every single instance that could put your fellow worker’s or your own health and/or safety at risk. 

You have a job to do for the company, that's understood. But more importantly, you must never forget that you have a much greater responsibility to yourself and your family. 

Fraternally,

Gary Doherty
Director, Prairie Region
TCRC MWED