48 hours rest per week .That leaves 120 hours to work .That would be three jobs worth of work per worker at forty hours each.Are you making three workers wages ???
Reminds me of that old army joke "All leave is cancelled until moralle improves"
Sounds like greed has corrupted your Union .Working that many hours you only have yourselfs to blame for being so greedy .You do not have a Union if you are working that many hours when there are people looking for work.
Working that many hours proves you are all greedy wage slaves without a Union.You have made your beds.Too bad the only time you get to sleep in them is when you are going off the rails .
So you think your members are worthy of a million a week ???
Good job i am not in charge or it would be pay cuts all round .
You would be working 120 hours a week without overtime rates until the railway was fixed and safe for the travelling public.First to complain would be the first out the door .And replaced with someone who wants to work .Not just riding the rails whinning and bitching feeling entitled to something for attending a workplace in nonproductive mode
First of all, CN is a greedy corporate scumbag company now owned by americans. How on earth can the even fathom to BRAG about how little they spent on maintenance????
When they cut and cut and cut and still the shareholders give the CEO a 50 million dollar bonus, who can blame the employees for their apathy?
CN is indifferent to everyone, except shareholders. Period. They are currently trying to eliminate early retirement... nice. When stats can says life expectancies of retiring at 55 are 76years, and 65 are 67 years. They want their employees to work until they die, and not retire. Maybe they just want to keep their pension money.
To make some corrections to previous posters: Trains are not being run by inexperienced managers, the conductors have been replaced by managers. Locomotive Engineeers (TCRC) are still running the trains.
Via's safety record is superb. The only real incidents usually involve a crossing incursion where a vehicle has failed to stop in time and gets struck by a speeding passenger train. There have been some incidents though, as a result of poor track, vandalism, and only one incident I've heard of where equipment was to blame.
SUPPORT THE UTU!
(i'm a TCRC Via Engineer, by the way, direct your questions my way, be my guest)
To my mind railroads should be like tarmac roads - publicly owned. Get private companies to operate them/maintain them like 407ETR but a public owner is better final accountability. That would also get rid of track duplication rather than have CP run on CN track or whatever. Having little CN and CP vertical monopolies is not in the best interest of the country.
You sir, are completely and unequivocally correct. Glad to hear you feel that way.
We (Canadians) used to own CN (and CP for that matter, I think...), but sold it out, and now it's pretty much american owned.
Would be nice if we could have the profits going toward our own government, instead of $50 million bonuses leaving the country to the head of Illinois Central....
The deal we were offered is basically a rollover with a 3% raise, $1000 signing bonus, and marginal increases to benefits. It's a status quo deal, pretty much everything is as it was prior to the strike. The deal (should we choose to accept it) is only good for one year, so we could be back where we were next January.
Next up for next year, increased mileage maximums/month, less rest... etc.
You can bet CN will be going for that again, I'd be mildly satisfied that your rest/mileage issues didn't change. Figured they'd get you guys on that, then come after us in the TCRC. Boo that you only got 3%. If i'm not mistaken TCRC's last one was 4%???
If CN can turn a half a billion in profit per QUARTER, why the hell do they feel it necessary to reduce the quality of your lives? Methinks the American shareholders need to be liberated of air. For breathing. Greedy fucks.
123.50 wrote:Next up for next year, increased mileage maximums/month, less rest... etc.
You can bet CN will be going for that again, I'd be mildly satisfied that your rest/mileage issues didn't change. Figured they'd get you guys on that, then come after us in the TCRC. Boo that you only got 3%. If i'm not mistaken TCRC's last one was 4%???
If CN can turn a half a billion in profit per QUARTER, why the hell do they feel it necessary to reduce the quality of your lives? Methinks the American shareholders need to be liberated of air. For breathing. Greedy fucks.
Corporations will kill us if we let them.
I look into my crystal ball and I don't see good things for the future. Between this company and our own union problems I just can't see a good outcome. I don't even know if we'll ratify the deal, we could be out again toward the end of March. I really do enjoy my job, but I'm actively looking for other work, anyone know where I can buy a ppc?
Transport Canada says it has ordered the Canadian National Railway to undertake a number of safety measures because the agency observed serious problems during a safety audit done in 2005 and 2006 in the wake of some high-profile derailments in B.C. and Alberta.
The department yesterday released a "final" audit of safety management practices at CN in response to an Access to Information request.
The report said the departement, which regulates train operations, found serious problems in the way CN and its employees handled railway safety.
The audit was conducted after two derailments involving chemical-carrying trains in August 2005 in Alberta and in B.C.'s Cheakamus canyon.
The audit discovered CN employees felt pressured - either through productivity demands or fear of discipline - to cut corners on safety regulations.
It also noted that CN focused too much attention on meeting U.S. Federal Railway Administration regulations instead of Canadian requirements.
And it noted that CN's "safety culture improvement initiatives" need to be improved and more effort needs to be devoted to safety.
Audit reveals safety problems at CN Rail
Last Updated: Friday, March 2, 2007 | 4:40 PM ET
CBC News
A safety audit of CN Rail prompted by two train accidents found a long
list
of problems, including faulty equipment, improper safety practices and
a
high rate of safety defects on locomotives.
The audit was conducted in 2005, completed a year ago and released
Friday
after CBC News filed an access to information request. The audit states
CN
has fully co-operated with Transport Canada and has improved some
practices
but that it must move further in that direction.
Transport Canada made 11 recommendations for change, eight of which, it
said, the railway has already moved to address.
Transport Canada launched the safety audit after two train wrecks in
Western
Canada in 2005. In the first wreck, a CN train jumped the rails and
spilled
oil into Lake Wabamun in Alberta. Two days later, a second train
plunged
into the Cheakamus Canyon in B.C. and spilled caustic soda into the
river.
The two-phase report reveals a number of problems with both targeted
safety
inspections and with CN's safety management practices.
In the first phase of the report, investigators found a number of
"safety
defects" in CN's equipment. These defects could cause a derailment,
personal
injury or property/environment damage.
For example, auditors found a "significantly high rate" of safety
defects
(54 per cent) on the locomotives they inspected with problems ranging
from
brake gear defects to too much oil accumulated on locomotives and fuel
tanks.
The audit also recorded a number of different system and brake gear
defects
and defects with the cars themselves, including 27 occurrences of an
"unsecured plug type door."
Derailment risk
"The loss of this door on a train in transit has in the past caused the
loss
of life," the report says, adding the problem causes a medium to high
risk
for derailment.
The inspection also found a large number of locations where track
conditons
did not comply with track safety rules.
Auditors identified issues relating to rail defects ranging from
damaged
rail to rail wear. There were also a number of cases of missing bolts
and
cracked splice bars.
Train crossings posed another problem. Around 26 per cent of the
crossings
inspected had inadequate sightlines - the majority at unprotected
crossings.
There were also problems with surface conditions.
The audit also found more than a third of the locomotives inspected
violated
parts of the labour code regarding trains. Problems included out of
date
fire extinguishers, incomplete first aid kits and missing protective
covers
on electrical equipment.
The second phase of the report found many front-line employees say they
feel
pressured to get the job done. It also said current practices allow
locomotives with safety defects to continue in service.
But CN rejected that allegation. In an email to Transport Canada
obtained by
CBC News, a CN official said the report included a large number of
inaccurate or misleading findings.
The official blamed that on what he calls the unstructured manner in
which
employees were questioned.
Could you imagine what the outcry would be if TC found 54% of Air Canada's aircraft to be unsafe!?! Those plug doors are pretty scary too, they weigh about 4 tons or so, I don't want to think about the result if one were to fall of at a crossing on top of a small car. Working in the yard I give them a wide berth.
Engineer still missing after B.C. train crash
Canadian Press
April 24, 2007 at 2:18 PM EST
TRAIL, B.C. — Authorities searched for a train engineer Tuesday, hoping the man managed to jump off an out-of-control locomotive along with two colleagues after the train charged over a trestle, missed a sharp curve and crashed down an embankment.
A spokesman for Canadian Pacific Railway said investigators are uncertain whether the engineer stayed with the locomotives or tried to escape.
“Our thoughts are very much with his family at this point and his colleagues who were with him,” Mark Seland said.
The other two crew members were treated in hospital and are recovering.
The train derailed Monday afternoon as it headed down a hill into the city in British Columbia's West Kootenay region near the Teck Cominco lead-zinc smelter.
Trail resident Edgar Bailey, who lives nearby, said he saw the train jump the tracks.
“All you could hear was this crunch,” he told radio station CJAT.
“All of a sudden, it's coming in and it's going over the overpass. It's coming down and you could see smoke coming out of the back brakes on the second engine.”
Mr. Bailey said it appeared the engineer was trying to slow the train.
“He's trying to stop it. He didn't make the corner.”
Wendy Garby said she was sitting outside with her girlfriends when they heard the train come.
She told the station that she could tell something was very wrong.
“It always shoots its whistle, you know, and it was going really, really fast and there was smoke coming up off it, which we've never seen (and) we've been here for 14 years.”
She said the effect of the accident hit home when her husband returned from his job at Teck Cominco.
“He told me that the two engines ended up flipped upside down right outside his change room, about 50 feet away from where he parks the truck. ”
Two locomotives went down the 15-metre embankment, dragging along seven fertilizer cars after crossing the trestle, which spans a highway.
“All the cars and the locomotives went down the embankment, so they're currently lying at the bottom of that embankment,” Mr. Seland said.
John Maclean, administrator for the Kootenay Regional District, said the derailment could have been much worse.
A number of rail cars left the tracks just before an overpass that crosses the town's main highway between Trail and Castlegar.
“It's generally just above our heads, kind of thing. The community is lucky,” he said.
Luck aside, he noted “the engines did create a mess.”
“There are still three cars, to my knowledge, that are standing on the tracks, the rest of them did flip and turn over.”
Mr. Seland said fertilizer spilled from some of the cars. He described it as a “granulated, solid fertilizer that's used in farming applications.”
It poses no environmental threat, but officials are on site to try to recover it.
Authorities with the Transportation Safety Board, the RCMP, emergency response and the railway are also there.
Two CN Rail trains collide in British Columbia
Updated Sat. Aug. 4 2007 6:44 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Two CN Rail trains collided near Prince George, B.C., reportedly causing a derailment, fire and a minor fuel leak into the nearby Fraser River.
But a CN Rail spokesman said it isn't clear if the fuel leak is actually causing any environmental damage.
"Indications are that only one tanker ... lost some product. It went on to the ground and towards the river," CN Rail spokesman Jim Feeny told CTV Newsnet from Edmonton on Saturday.
"As it was on the ground, it was on fire. At this point, we do not know for certain if any of that product got into the river or not, and if it did, whether it was on fire or not."
Emergency and environmental response teams are on site, and more information should be forthcoming later today, he said.
The accident happened about 10:30 a.m. local time.
Thick, black smoke poured off one locomotive, darkening the skies over the city. Officials say a lumber car on one of the trains is burning, along with a gasoline tanker car. Fire crews are working on controlling the blaze.
No injuries have been reported.
Hundreds of onlookers had viewed the scene from a park on the other side of the river. The RCMP closed that park, fearing that people might be at risk if the one tanker car ever exploded.
RCMP Const. Gary Godwin told The Canadian Press it appears one train jumped the tracks and hit another train on an opposing set of tracks.
Feeney said the trains collided in a CN yard. One train had three locomotives. He couldn't say how many trains were involved in the wreck.
He said crews were able to remove cars not directly involved in the blaze.
Trains operating in a yard are generally travelling at low speed, less than 16 kilometres per hour, he said.
"We're just performing the investigation and downloading the black box computers, the event recorders on the locomotives," he said.
This latest incident comes one day after it was announced that CN would face five charges for a 2005 derailment that spilled toxic chemicals into the Cheakamus River near Squamish, B.C.
The company will have to appear in court on Oct. 3.
"We're just performing the investigation and downloading the black box computers, the event recorders on the locomotives," he said.
Maybe we need " Event recorders " in every airplane so when they have accidents the " Event recorder " can be compared to the SMS manual to find out what went wrong?
---------- ADS -----------
The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
I wonder what the next abreviation will be after SMS will be has run its course and is as fashionable as Bellbottoms .
My WAG would be KDIBS
short for Knee Deep In ........ and K-dibs could be the next snafu
(Breaking News) Tuesday, 07 August 2007, 17:23 PST
by Frank Peebles, Citizen Staff
Transport Canada has served CN Rail with a list of conditions under which it must operate on the rail line where a pair of trains carrying hazardous materials collided on Saturday.
CN said today it is already implementing the orders.
"Transport Canada had a dangerous goods inspector and a rail safety inspector on the scene after the derailment," said Sara Hof, spokeswoman for the federal transportation regulator.
"A rail safety inspector determined there was more action needed and a Notice in Order was issued (Sunday).
Six conditions related to the rail line in question were specified in the letter to CN. They are:
-- The maximum number of cars permitted to be handled is restricted to 30 loads or 40 cars with a minimum of 10 empties.
-- Movements will not be protected by a point protection zone. "This compels train operators to visually confirm the track is clear," said Hof, instead of relying on electronic sensors which can lead to a false sense of security by operators and higher speed movements of trains. The order is designed to slow trains down.
-- An employee must physically be on the leading end of equipment when the view of the leading end is expected to or no longer becomes visible from the switching lead. This means the track must be visible at all times to the employees involved in switching activity.
-- A sufficient number of cars handled must have operative air brakes which will permit control of the movement.
-- All data related to the reported braking performance, inspection and repairs for yard engines assigned to switching duties be retained for 30 days and Transport Canada's Rail Safety Division will be monitoring the data records to make sure the conditions are met.
-- The Notice in Order also reinforces that all remote-control locomotive operators switching between these locations are properly trained, qualified and familiar with the equipment and the territory in which they are operating.
"Transport Canada will also be assessing all operations in the area and there may be requirement for further regulatory action," Hof added.
Quesnel Mayor Asks How Many CN Derailments Have There Been?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By 250 News
Thursday, August 23, 2007 03:57 AM
Quesnel Mayor Nate Bello asks "How many derailments have there been on the old BC Rail line, 20, 30, 40? I’ve lost count, I don’t know”.
The derailment in Quesnel on Tuesday was at the same location as one that took place one month ago, “There is definitely a pattern”. Bello wants to know why " what’s wrong? Are the trains going too fast,? Are the tracks wrong ? We need a real study to see what the problem is”.
Bello says his first interest was in making sure that no one was injured , "There was one car right on the bridge over the Quesnel River , I wanted to make sure there had been no spill of toxic material and when I was assured that both of those areas were covered I became concerned about just what is happening."
The City of Quesnel has put forward a resolution to the UBCM asking CN to enter into an open and frank dialogue with the municipalities along its lines with respect to issues such as safety.
Ten cars jumped the tracks Tuesday evening in Quesnel shortly after 6:00. The cars were empty, no one hurt, but the incident came within a day of Quesnel Council dealing with the issue at their regular meeting. Quesnel Mayor Nate Bello is hoping he will be advised as to when CN officials will be addressing Prince George City Council ( a letter trequesting such a session was sent by P.G. Mayor Colin Kinsley last week) so he will be able to attend and hear for himself just what CN has planned for safety along the rail line.
"Of course we are concerned any time rail cars are off the tracks" says Transport Canada’s spokesperson Rod Nelson, "We will be monitoring their (CN’s) compliance with the applicable rules but there is no investigation." Nelson says if Transport Canada thought there was a recurring problem at the Quesnel rail yard, then Transport Canada would issue a notice of orders, like the set issued following the collission and derailment in Prince George.
Transport Canada has rescinded the 5 orders issued to CN following the collision and derailment in Prince George on August 4th.
Transport Canada spokesperson Rod Nelson says the railway has implemented new operating procedures and CN can once again resume moving longer trains and reinstate the “point of protection zone”.
“We have reviewed CN’s new operational procedures, and we are satisfied the issues have been addressed so the orders have been rescinded.”
The five orders issued were as follows:
1. Train movement will not be protected by the “point protection” zone, and any existing instructions related to the “point protection” zone ( P.P.Zone) are null and void. (The inspectors believe this zone, which was to control train traffic, gave operators a false sense of security that there was only one train in the zone at any given time.)
2. An employee must physically be on a leading end of equipment to view the track at all times to avoid possible conflicts when switching. (Opinion250 has been told the trains were being operated by "remote control")
3. The maximum cars to be handled is 30 loads, or 40 cars, but if 40, at least 10 have to be empty. (CN has confirmed there were3 locomotives and 53 cars on the northbound train, while the southbound train had two locomotives and 67 cars)
4. There has to be a sufficient number of cars with operating air brakes to control movement
5. All data related to the braking performance, inspection, repairs and yard engines assigned to switching duties, must be retained for 30 days.
CN spokesperson Kelly Svendsen confirms the orders have been rescinded, but will not release the details of the new operational procedures.
Transport Canada cannot release the details of the operational procedure changes, saying only that the railway has outlined a new training program, and a system that will ensure there is “adequate” braking power. Opinion 250 has been advised that if it wants the full details, a request for “Access to Information” will have to be filed.
Meantime, the Ministry of the Environment is still waiting for the delivery of CN’s site clean up plan. The railway has until Friday to submit the plan outlining how it will prevent diesel and gasoline contaminated soil from entering the Fraser river.
Train case before judge
Written by PAUL STRICKLAND
Citizen staff
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Lawyers met during an in-camera session before Mr. Justice R. D. Wilson this week to discuss which documents concerning the Aug. 4, 2007 train crash on the banks of the Fraser River will be kept sealed and which released to the Transportation Safety Board for its investigation.
The session centred on a move by Crown counsel to determine lawyer-client privilege claims made by CN concerning items seized from its Prince George premises during execution of a search warrant., John Cliffe, federal Crown counsel, said Wednesday.
"It was to try to decide the scope of the privilege claim," Cliffe said.
The judge issued an interim decision. However, it cannot be disclosed because Tuesday's session was an in-camera matter, he said.
The case, R. v. Canadian National Railway, was adjourned "to a date to be agreed to by the parties," Cliffe said.
During a court session last spring, CN Rail claimed privilege on a number of grounds, including proprietary concerns and lawyer-client privilege in any prospective civil proceedings.
Now, I know that the TSB doesn't like to testify in court as it isn't within their mandate to aportion blame, however ... what up with questioning the TSB's right to access any and all information/evidence which may be deemed important to the investigation?? And almost a year later???
You sir, are completely and unequivocally correct. Glad to hear you feel that way.
