KVR employees join Teamsters from across Canada in a national rail strike
By Bruce Fuhr
Employees from the Kootenay Valley Rail line joined fellow Teamsters from across Canada in a national rail strike Wednesday at 12:01 a.m.
The workers, represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, walked off the job after the two sides were unable to reach an agreement despite talks that continued until the deadline.
Canadian Pacific has suspended rail freight service across the country but commuter trains in several large cities that use CP track continue to operate amid a strike by some 4,500 engineers, conductors and others.
“The KVR line is owned and operated by CP and is staffed with CP employees, so it is affected by the Teamsters work stoppage action,” Kevin Hrysak, CP Rail Media Relations Manager told The Nelson Daily Wednesday.
“All traffic was safely halted last (Tuesday) night in preparation for the union walk out at 12:01am this (Wednesday) morning,” Hrysak added.
“This include all traffic from other railways that are interchanged at borders like Kingsgate, so not just CP affected here from a railway perspective.”
The Kootenay Valley Rail line runs from east of Creston to Trail, home of Teck where KVR employees set up an information picket line Wednesday.
The rail line primarily moves product for Teck in Trail and Zellstoff Celgar pulp mill and Interfor sawmill in Castlegar.
The two sides continue to negotiate in an effort to reach an agreement.
“We have made every reasonable effort to get a settlement,” Teamsters vice-president Doug Finnson said in a statement posted on the union website.
“Every union member knows how important the outstanding issues are,” Finnson added. “We will not walk away from the negotiation table.”
Major points of contention are pensions, some work rules and fatigue management. The workers last contract expired in January.
The two sides had met with federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt on Tuesday.
“Current status is that they were in negotiations right up till the deadline of (Wednesday) night and have resumed this morning and will continue on that basis until an agreement is reached,” Hrysak.
It’s estimated a prolonged strike would cost the Canadian economy an estimated $540 million a week.
The strike is the third stoppage in just over a month on the KVR line.
In late March and early April train derailments near Atbara on Kootenay Lake and at the Fortis BC Corra Linn power plant shutdown the line.
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