The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Will
Carefully Study the Transportation Safety Board’s
Report on the Lillooet Accident.
The report made public last week by the
Transportation Safety Board of Canada on the
derailment of a train that occurred near Lillooet in
2006 raises questions about the lack of dynamic
brake equipped locomotives on some of Canadian
National’s trains.
The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which
represents the majority of Canadian National’s
employees and, in particular, the two employees who
lost their lives in this accident, is to study the
report with the aim of making recommendations to the
federal government to ensure that such an accident
will never occur again.
“Our main concern has always been the safety of the
workers we represent and of the Canadian
population,” stated Daniel J. Shewchuk, president of
the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which
represents nearly 12,000 workers from the rail
industry. “The tragic deaths of two members of our
organization and the serious injuries sustained by a
third worker have forever marked us."
In a communiqué, the Transportation Safety Board
confirms having learned that “no risk assessment was
done before removing locomotives equipped with
dynamic braking from this extremely mountainous
territory.”
“In my opinion, this fact is very troubling,” added
Mr. Shewchuk. “We cannot allow Russian roulette to
be played with workers' lives. It’s completely
unacceptable.”
On June 29, 2006, a train that was negotiating sharp
curves and a steep downgrade near Lillooet derailed
because the brakes on the car and locomotive could
not slow the train’s descent. The car was the first
to derail and came to rest around 1000 feet down the
mountain. Shortly thereafter, the locomotive
derailed and slid about 800 feet down the mountain.
Conductor Tom Dodd and Brakeman Don Faulkner were
fatally injured and Locomotive Engineer Gordon
Rhodes suffered serious injuries and had to be taken
to a hospital.
The report also mentions that, more than three years
later, Canadian National is still delaying
implementation of certain corrective measures to
ensure its employees’ safety.
The Teamsters Union will carefully study the
report’s conclusions over the coming weeks before
commenting on them.
The Teamsters Union represents 125,000 members in
Canada in all trades. The International Brotherhood
of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is
affiliated, has 1.4 million members in North
America.
Information:
Daniel J. Shewchuk, president of Teamsters Canada
Rail Conference
780-720-9008
Stéphane Lacroix, director of communications of
Teamsters Canada
514-609-5101
