A strike by engineers and yardmasters belonging to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) against Via Rail ended after 48 hours Sunday and passenger trains across the country began rolling again.
Stations and stops that had been shut down along the Winnipeg to Churchill route in Manitoba and Saskatchewan included Portage-La-Prairie, Gladstone, Plumas, Glenella, McCreary, Laurier, Ochre River, Dauphin, Gilbert Plains, Grandview, Roblin, Togo, Sask., Kamsack, Sask., Veregin, Sask., Mikado, Sask., Canora, Sask., Sturgis, Sask., Endeavour, Sask., Reserve, Sask., Hudson Bay, Sask., The Pas, Prospector, Root Lake, Wanless, Atik, Simonhouse, Cranberry Portage, Optic Lake, Heming Lake, Sherridon, Ruddock, Charles, Pawistik, Mile 151.8, Pukatawagan, Orok, Halcrow, Cormorant, Dering, Dyce, Wekusko, Turnbull, Ponton and Pipun.
Along the Bayline, the stations and stops included Wabowden, Lyddal, Odhil, Hockin, Thicket Portage, Leven, Thompson, Sipiwesk, Pikwitonei, Bridgar, Pit Siding, Ilford, Wivenhoe, Gillam, Bird, Avery, Weir River, Thibaudeau, Herchmer, O'Day, McClintock, Chesnaye and Tidal.
Locomotive engineers, who operate the trains, have been working without a contract since Dec. 31, 2006. The struck the company at noon EDT July 24. Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and the Via Rail Canada agreed late Saturday night to appeal to a federal arbitrator who will impose a new collective agreement to both parties.
"We reached the conclusion that there was no possible agreement in the short term, said Daniel J. Shewchuk, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 340 workers of Via Rail. "That is why the parties came to the agreement to submit their outstanding issues to final and binding arbitration."
Non-monetary issues are the main points in dispute between the parties but wages, although not the main focus, are one of the outstanding issues.
"The strike may have lasted for weeks or months," said Shewchuk. "After taking all the issues into consideration, we decided that the best course of action for everyone involved would be to address our issues by an Arbitrator. The decision to go on strike was not an easy decision but we had to do something motivate the employer and get the process moving."
The arbitrator has been put into place and the issues will be addressed as early as mid August.
The railway's last strike had been 14 years ago in 1995, when conductors from a different union went on strike for a week.
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.
Via operates 503 intercity, transcontinental and regional trains linking 450 communities across its 12,500-kilometre route network.
In 2008, the company transported 4.6 million passengers -- the most since 1989 - and set an all-time record of $299 million in revenue. That amounts to nearly 12,000 passengers a day. Up to 85 per cent of its business is between Quebec City and Windsor.
Winnipeg to Churchill route Via Rail passengers already faced delays and schedule changes this summer for the third straight tourist season because of ongoing track improvement and upgrading work that the track owner, Omnitrax, is scheduled to begin shortly on the Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) and continue through the fall.
"Via's train times are expected to be significantly affected," said company spokeswoman Ashley Doyle. "Hence, VIA will be modifying its schedule for Trains 692 and 693 between Winnipeg and Churchill. Effective July 12, Via will operate two times per week between Winnipeg and Churchill with one additional train per week operating between Churchill and The Pas.
Via plans to "re-evaluate this situation later this fall to determine the best operating schedule for its Winnipeg-Churchill service going forward," Doyle said.
