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
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Rail investigation R06V0136 |
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