TCRC-MWED Rally at CP Rail Headquarters

Under a typically gloomy, rain swept sky, dozens of TCRC-MWED members and family members gathered at the entrances to the head offices of Canadian Pacific Railway at Gulf Canada Square in Calgary just before 1000 AM on Friday August 11. The dedicated group braved the pouring rain in support of a rally and press conference aimed at generating public awareness of TCRC-MWED concerns with regard to railway safety.

In attendance were TCRC-MWED President Bill Brehl and Pacific Region Director Hank Helfenbein as well as TCRC-MWED attorney David Brown. Showing their support were Tom Murphy President of CAW members employed by CP Rail and Dave Able General Chair TCRC members employed in running trades by CP Rail. Ever present at these affairs was Kari Essery, better known as RTC KJE to our members, representing the Railway Traffic Controllers.

Teamsters Canada Local 362 President Rick Eichel along with Al Porter and Organizer John Doerksen were again on hand with the TEAMSTERS semi truck parked right in front of CP Rails' steamer No. 29 under permit. Our thanks to the City of Calgary employees for placing the detour barricades around the truck and the Calgary Police Service officers for providing a watchful eye on a busy 9th Avenue. After all, SAFETY of OUR MEMBERS as well as THE GENERAL PUBLIC was our message.

There was also a healthy compliment of the local media. Members of all Calgary television stations, as well as newspaper and radio reporters were on hand for the press conference with President Brehl and questions to rank and file members and family members as well. The press release issued by the TCRC-MWED office generated many more telephone interviews with Bill by various media outlets across the country. The message was generally well presented by the press.

Our message was one our members are well aware of. While the Railway is declaring record profits and present and former upper management are receiving huge salaries and bonuses previously unheard of on the Railway, the infrastructure and equipment which the Railway operates is not being maintained to a standard which guarantees the safe operation of the Railway. This, we believe, not only effects the safety of our members who work and live next to main track in boarding cars, but the safety of the general public who live, work and go to school near main tracks and yards in the middle of urban areas right across the country. We believe that Safety must never be compromised in the name of profits and bonuses.

We are all aware that there are less than half as many members maintaining track that has far more trains and tonnage thundering over it nowadays. We know that the high profile derailments that get press coverage are just the tip of the iceberg and that there is daily potential for tragedy on the track in the middle of the areas that our friends and family live. We know how the Railway management is treating our members on safety issues such as Change/Storage rooms, Boarding car meals and parked next to mainline issues, as well as the scheduling and Non-Conforming Rest Days issues on the Pacific Region. We wanted to make the public aware and ask whether they could trust a company that treats its' employees that way on safety related matters with the Safety of the public at large?

Reaction of the Railway, as reported by the media, was that they remain committed to safety and that the rally was more to do with contract negotiations than Safety. Clearly they must have been listening, but they are not getting the message. Safety is VERY IMPORTANT to the members of the TCRC-MWED. OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT ON A DAILY BASIS! We see the track firsthand and know the condition of it. We know we have been taught new lower standards for the maintenance of it. We know this effects everyone’s Safety. And we know that SAFETY IS STILL FAR TOO IMPORTANT TO BE LEFT IN THE HANDS OF MANAGEMENT!

Thanks goes out to all members and their families who attended even in the miserable conditions, particularly those who traveled hundreds of miles and/or took the day off to do so. You are what makes a UNION and what can really get a message across, if not to Railway Management, to the press and the general public. And a Thanks to Local 362 for supplying the room for our lunch meeting afterward.
A. Ross Terry
Local Chairperson
Local Lodge 205
Lethbridge Alberta