A major issue in the ongoing negotiations is fatigue safety. Over the past decade, working conditions have become increasingly dangerous on Canadian railways.
CN and CPK are both cesspools of capitalism at the cost of workers’ and civilian lives … and the feds support that. They’re all murderous assholes.
However, CIRB has not designated railways as an “essential service,” a status that would give legal standing for the government to force staff back to work.
The precision scheduled railroading was pioneered in Canada by Hunter Harrison, the CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPKC’s predecessor) at the time of the Lac-Mégantic disaster in 2013. As a result, the volume of dangerous goods transported by rail rose by 70 per cent between 2011 and 2019.
Railway safety oversight systems, known as safety management systems, were introduced by Transport Canada in 2001. The Auditor General noted in its 2021 report on railway safety that Transport Canada is still not effectively assessing whether safety management systems improve safety by reducing the risk of accidents.
The report recommended that railway companies mandate science-based fatigue management practices for workers. Companies have long resisted installing such practices, with Transport Canada being largely deferential to their demands. Fatigue was deemed a contributing factor to the Lac-Mégantic disaster.
CN and CPK are both cesspools of capitalism at the cost of workers’ and civilian lives … and the feds support that. They’re all murderous assholes.