Privatization Canada's National Rail Disaster

As major railway accidents caused by CN have occured over the last six months I have blogged about the disaster that is the Canadian National (CN) Railway (sic). Which it no longer is; Canadian or National. It is now a Contiental Railway, since it was privatized. And this is the core problem with it, while a successful business, it has sacrificed workers, communities and public safety for the bottom line. Yesterday another major crash occured with CN in B.C. Not one but two of them.

Under US president E, Hunter Harisson the working conditions at CN have worsened, the use of just in time management strategies and reducing workers for automated systems has led to an unprecidented summer and fall of accidents.
And now that they have taken over B.C. Rail, privatized by the Campbell government last year, their record for accidents has beat that of the previously provinicial owned and run B.C. Rail. BC Rail accident rate higher with CN in charge

When a bridge in McBride B.C. collapsed in 2003 and killed two railworkers it was the direct result of CN's bottom line fixation. Rather than maintain and fix the bridge, the company cut costs and corners the result was the death of two workers.

CN was fined in court yesterday a mere $75,000 of a potential $200,000 penalty. This is what a rail workers life is worth with privatized CN, $37, 500. Less than what those workers actually earned in a year. In their after profit per worker, after wages, and taxes, this is what CN makes, in annual productivity per worker funny that. And no one went to jail for nurder or manslaughter even though CN admited it was at fault! And they have two weeks to pay! Get out the cheque book.

Two Prince George men, Conductor Ken LeQuesne and Engineer Art McKay, both 51, were killed when the train left a wooden trestle bridge and plunged into a ravine.Canadian National Railway Spokesperson, Jim Feeney, says, "Yes, we pleaded guilty to a count under the Railway Safety Act for failing to ensure proper documentation and procedures in respect to railway work, inspection and maintenance on that bridge." The company has received a fine of $75,000.00 on a count that carried a maximun $200,000.00 penalty. Feeney says a broken rail has been indicated as the cause, which is "an unforeseen and unpredictable accident."

No it's not an unpredicatble accident, it was as they say in the Health and Safety world an incident waiting to become an accident. CN admited they cut back maintenance inspections, and in doing do the result was that this unpredictable accident could have been avoided.This was murder by negligence. And the court did nothing about it because it was restrained by the law which was applied against CN. The State failed to take CN to court for negligence and willfull neglect, or even criminal manslaughter. Instead they filed charges under the Canada Labour Act, and the Railway Safety Act, lesser acts which carry lesser penalities. Clever CN, pleading guilty, to get out of really paying for their crimes.

CN was privatized under the Liberals, not Mulroney's Conservatives, and it is the Liberals who are defending their sell off of our National Railway. Liberal Cabinet Minister and Candidate David Emerson said yesterday that CN's problems in B.C. were because they inherited them from B.C. Rail who failed to maintain their raillines. Thats passing the buck. Funny that we didn't have all these disasters when B.C. Rail ran its trains over the same lines. The reason is that CN has expanded the number of cars on the tracks in order to meet its just in time obligations to the coastal ports. After 11 derailments in the past six months the government has finally acted. CN ordered to shorten trains to no more than 80 cars after B.C. derailments

This speed up with the increase use of intermodal cars began after CN was privatized. A woman in Richmond has taken CN to court over the increasing traffic through her neighbourhood which she says began in 1992 after CN was privatized.

CN faces suit over derailment damage East Richmond woman says Monday's incident was not a surprise

But that all changed in 1992, when CN Rail began to operate its works yard in the middle of the night and escalated its operations.
Short trains became longer, overnight noise routine. A couple of thunderous diesel-spewing locomotives turned into nearly a half dozen. And the odd shake turned into troublesome daily quakes.
As activity ramped up in the works yard, so worsened the impact on Fisher's life.
Fisher, who has sued Canadian National Railway in B.C. Supreme Court, contacted The Richmond Review Tuesday, following Monday night's four-car derailment of a 39-car train not far from her home.
Four trains jumped the tracks on the Lulu Island trestle, one of which plunged into the North Arm of the Fraser River, carrying with it numerous brand new Toyota cars.
Fisher pointed out that this isn't the first derailment in the area, and that one on Dec. 31, 2002 happened next to her house and caused her already-split garage foundation to heave several inches. The split itself, she claims, was caused by the increased rail activity.
The cause of the 2002 derailment, according to Fisher, was speed and specifically trains being coupled together with too great a force.
Fisher's court case begins the discovery phase early next year.
Fisher said the sound of trains being shunted together each night is ruining her quality of life.
In addition, the ear-splitting 90 decibel whistle that screams four times each occasion a train reaches a level crossing now repeats itself up to 100 times on the worst of days, she said.
Trains are now a lot longer and much heavier, causing her property to routinely shudder, one time generating a jolt powerful enough to knock food off her table.

And in Alberta where we had one of the most serious toxic spills ever this summer thanks to CN the people whose lake was polluted have waited and waited to get compensation. Now CN is offering them a piddly $5000 each.CN offers cash for spill

Residents discussed the compensation offer at a meeting on Oct. 29. According to minutes of the meeting, Goss told residents CN was "mad as hell" with the provincial government and threatened to move its regional office out of Edmonton.

The Aug. 3 derailment spilled more than 700,000 litres of fuel oil and pole-treating oil in and around the lake. Since the spill, the company has been under a strict environmental protection order from Alberta Environment.

Provincial investigators executed search warrants on the company's Walker Yard facility in Edmonton. That generated "a lot of anger, I think, that (CN) were treated like criminals and things like that," said Goss, adding that the company sent Premier Ralph Klein a letter threatening to relocate.

It took the threat of criminal charges to get CN to actually act. At first they threatened a capital strike, to move out of the province because of the way the usually business friendly Klein regime was treating them. But the spill embarassed the government and showed they had no plan for dealing with a disaster of this magnitude. A disaster that again was predictable considering this province is an industrialized chemical hazard from north to south. Whether it is petro chemicals, fertilizers, etc, we have plants every where, and we have toxic goods on our highways and raillines, that travel across the province daily. The CN spill exposed the fact that the government had no environmental disaster plan. You don't embarass King Ralph and expect him to laugh it off.

In order to forestall further criticism about its decades old failure to maintain its lines, except for its bottom line, E. Hunter Harrison has announced CN will spend 10% more next year than they did this year to repair and maintain its lines in Western Canada. Oh be still my beating heart. Clearly what they spent this year did not even address the basic maintenance they have neglected over the years.

Thats because along with attacks on workers wages and benefits, reductions in the workforce, increasing train traffice and intermodal capacity, the capital privatized CN gained was used to buy up American Rail companies in order to become a Continental rail company. Sacrifices had to be made for the bottom line, and those included worker and public safety. And now the chickens are coming home to roost.

It's still not to late to rethink privatization. What we once owned as national crown corporations could be nationalized again. And at least one NDP candidate this election is saying so. And he running against the Minister in charge of Canada's railways.

An NDP candidate in Quebec says the Canadian government should run Air Canada, CN Rail, and the oil and gas industry. Leo-Paul Lauzon, a university economics professor in Quebec known for his left-wing views, said Canada should never have privatized those national commodities.Lauzon is the NDP candidate in one of the most hotly contested ridings in Quebec, facing off against Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, who is running for the Liberals, and against former PQ cabinet minister Jacques Leonard, who is running for the Bloc Québécois.