West Coast Express shutdown was ‘game-changer’ for travelers: councillor – BC

West Coast Express passengers continue to be forced to find alternative transportation due to a nationwide labour dispute over Canada’s two major rail lines.

CPKC owns the rail line on which the West Coast Express operates, and it has been out of service since Wednesday.

The union says CPKC workers will not work until the Canada Industrial Relations Board issues an order.

TransLink says trains cannot run without CPKC dispatchers and rail crews.

“It’s been a huge game-changer, to say the least, for many of our residents,” Maple Ridge Councillor Ahmed Yousef told Global News.

“While I commend TransLink for stepping up and providing alternative bus services to get people to Skytrain stations, it is, you know — if nothing else, it highlights that we do have the demand for this. And this is something that’s already underway with negotiations with TransLink about increasing service to our community, while now we can prove that we do have the riders, because that was the missing piece.”

Yousef said once the closure is over and service resumes, a case can be made for additional service to Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Mission.

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“We have seen a significant increase in traffic on the roads,” he added.

“It hasn’t been a pleasant experience for anyone.”

3:21
More uncertainty for Canada’s rail network

According to Yousef, there has been a lack of amenities in Maple Ridge for more than a decade, even with bus service between the different communities in the city.

“As a city government, we have advocated for TransLink to provide more services to our community,” he said.

“Their point was, well, we have to prove our ridership. Again, I hope this situation will allow us to prove that we have the ridership.”

Rail workers, their union and their employers are awaiting a decision from the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Saturday on how to proceed with the labour dispute.

Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) has sent CN Rail a 72-hour strike notice with the intention to strike beginning at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, August 26.

Meanwhile, the union at CPKC has challenged the government’s directive for binding arbitration and the railway company’s operations were still at a standstill on Friday.

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Railway labor dispute deepens with 72-hour strike announcement

In a statement on behalf of TRC, Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said the federal government “is rewarding CN and CPKC for their misconduct.”

“I say this for three reasons: First, the disruptions to service experienced across the country today were caused by the companies, not the workers. The parties could have continued to negotiate and the trains could have continued to run: CN and CPKC simply decided otherwise.

“Secondly, the decision by CN and CPKC to lock out their workers must be seen for what it is. It is a tantrum by anti-worker American corporate executives who don’t like Canadian labor laws and just want to play by their own rules.

“Third, binding arbitration is the wrong path because it does not address the root causes of this dispute,” McGowan said in the statement posted Friday.

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