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Rocky Mountaineer Lockout Goes off the Rails

Judge slaps union, politicians blast owner, replacement hire whacks passenger.

By Tom Sandborn, 5 Sep 2011, TheTyee.ca

Rocky Mountaineer Lockout, protest

Teamster Local 31 members picketing Rocky Mountaineer in Vancouver in July. Photo: Tom Sandborn.

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The labour fight at Rocky Mountaineer rail service keeps chugging into ever more twisty terrain, with no clear sight of a resolution down the track.

Just last week a Vancouver judge found Teamster Local 31 in contempt of court because of picket line activities outside the Lower Mainland operations of Rocky Mountaineer.

After Vancouver's Non-Partisan Association municipal political party chose Rocky Mountaineer boss Peter Armstrong to spearhead its fundraising, opposing councillors sent a letter to Armstrong slamming him for hiring "strikebreakers."

And now the Teamsters are pointing to the recent injury of an elderly passenger as evidence those replacements pose a safety risk for passengers -- a charge the company denies.

Strikebreakers hired on Craigslist

The dispute that led to the contempt ruling started with the rail service's management recruiting potential strike breakers (otherwise termed "replacement workers" or "scabs" depending on one's point of view) on Craigslist, the online free classifieds service, in May. Next came a Teamster strike vote. Then the employer locked out its unionized workers in June.

Rocky Mountaineer is currently operating behind picket lines using those workers it hired through Craigslist to replace the locked out Teamsters.

On Aug. 25, Justice Affleck of the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that Teamster Local 31, which represents the locked out on-board attendants at the luxury rail travel firm, is in civil contempt of court because of incidents on picket lines between July 11 and 22.

Justice Affleck rejected management claims that union pickets had breached a court order prohibiting them from "intimidating, attempting to intimidate, or harassing in any manner the Plaintiff's employees, contractors, train passengers, customers, or suppliers of the Plaintiff."

However, the judge did agree with claims from Rocky Mountaineer management staff that union pickets had breached an earlier order, which prohibited them from getting in the way of and slowing vehicles and people trying to get to the Rocky Mountaineer train and board it.

Justice Affleck ruled against the union for allowing its picketers to say "stop" to taxi drivers and having them "stand in front of buses and taxis and [refusing] to move them out of the way when requested to do so."

Local 31 lawyer Leo McGrady told The Tyee that a hearing to impose sanctions on his union clients had not yet been scheduled. He said the union would be suggesting the fine be fairly minimal, given that "there was no violence and no threat of violence, and no intimidation."

'We are at an impasse': Rocky Mountaineer

Local 31 president Stan Henessy said he was disappointed by the contempt finding.

"This is such a peaceful, quiet picket line," he told The Tyee, noting that no customer complaints, or police complaints or charges, were presented to the court. The picketing will continue, Hennessy said.

Both Hennessy, speaking for the Teamsters, and Ian Robertson, who speaks for Rocky Mountaineer, were doubtful that the dispute would be solved any time soon, each blaming the other side for lack of progress.

Robertson told The Tyee that his company had made seven separate offers to the union, the last on July 8, and all were rejected.

"We have had no new creative proposals from the union," he said. "We are at an impasse, but we are still working with the federal conciliator, and we're ready to bargain in good faith."

Hennessy, speaking for the unionized on-board attendants, said his members want a settlement, and that the union was surprised to hear Rocky Mountaineer spokespeople in radio interviews claim that the company was always ready to negotiate.

"That is categorically not true," he told The Tyee. "The last offer the company tabled was worse than the one my members rejected when they took a strike vote in June, and that bad offer was made a month and a half ago. At that point they wanted to roll back wages by two per cent and take away some things that have been in the contract for a while, like private accommodation for the on-board attendants when they finish their long shifts. It sure looks to us like this employer doesn't want to negotiate seriously. They are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers and security guards, but they won't move on our contract proposals. Our members are determined to win. "

Teamster lawyer McGrady said that any thoughts the employer might have that the setback in court would weaken the resolve of the Rocky Mountaineer employees would be a mistake. "The Teamsters who work for the Rocky Mountaineer are committed to their contract demands," he said. "They are not going to be starved out."

(McGrady also provides legal representation to The Tyee.)

Elderly rider injured

One of the questions raised by the use of strikebreakers to replace trained passenger attendants, the Teamsters' Hennessy told The Tyee, is whether the new workers are properly trained and prepared. He introduced a Tyee reporter to one former Rocky Mountaineer passenger who says her mother was injured by a strikebreaker who "didn't seem to know what she was doing."

Dianne Wiebe cares for her 92-year-old mother, Gilda, who suffers from Alzheimer's. On Aug. 5, she and her mother boarded the Rocky Mountaineer out of Whistler to return home after a short vacation stay in the resort community. Wiebe told The Tyee that the trip to Whistler on the luxury train had gone without incident, and that she had crossed the Teamster picket line without any trouble. But when she and her mother came on board to return home, the on-board attendant seemed confused about how to work a fold-down table mounted close to her mother's seat.

"She started yanking around with the table, eh? She didn't seem to know what to do. I learned she had only been working four days. She dropped the table and it came down hard on my mother's leg, hitting her near her knee. It left her black and blue, and that night I had to call the paramedics because she was having heart fibrillations, something she's never had before. It was scary, and I think the trauma on the train caused it."

Training not to blame: Rocky Mountaineer

Wiebe said that after she arrived in Vancouver, she stopped to talk with the pickets outside the station. They told her the table was easy and safe to deploy if you knew what you were doing. Since the incident, Wiebe has been in touch with Rocky Mountaineer management staff and told them they should be ashamed for letting the accident happen.

"They didn't want to take any real responsibility," Wiebe told The Tyee. "They refunded me the cost of our ticket, but nothing else, even though the worker involved didn't seem to be properly trained."

Training, Rocky Mountaineer's Robertson told The Tyee, is not the issue. "We are, of course, very apologetic about the unfortunate incident with Ms. Wiebe," Robertson said on Aug. 30. "Our current on-board attendants have been trained up to Transport Canada standards. We serve over 60,000 passengers a year and we always have a few incidents like this, no matter who is working."

Robertson said that his office has a file open on the Wiebe incident, but he blamed Wiebe for lack of progress in settling the matter.

"We have been clear with her that we need to see a doctor's report and x-rays. She hasn't provided us with that information," he said.

Councillors' letter blasts train boss

Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountaineer dispute has become a hot issue for some Vancouver municipal politicians. In a July 22 letter to Armstrong, the Vancouver businessman who heads up the company that operates the Mountaineer trains, all the sitting COPE and Vision councillors urged an end to the use of strikebreakers and a return to the bargaining table with the Teamster employees. The letter, on official City of Vancouver Councillors' Office letterhead, argued that Armstrong's tourism employees were important representatives of the city as well as of the company.

"Nevertheless, your firm has not only locked out these loyal employees, but immediately replaced them with strike breakers, an act that would be illegal under provincial law. We do not believe we can build the tourism industry with a strategy that treats customer service reps as little more than disposable people, to be used and discarded. We urge you to stop using replacement workers immediately and return to the bargaining table to conclude a new agreement to end the lockout," read the letter, signed by nine of 10 serving city councillors.

Mayor Robertson's name was absent from the letter to Armstrong. His media spokesperson told The Tyee the mayor was on vacation, and could not comment on whether he had been asked to endorse the call to end the use of strikebreakers.

Suzanne Anton, Vancouver's lone NPA councillor, declined to add her name to the letter. Anton had already announced, on May 30, that Armstrong will serve at her party's campaign chair in the upcoming civic election.

On Aug. 30, when The Tyee revisited the NPA website to take another look at the May announcement, it had disappeared from the site, and an attempt to search the site for files with Armstrong's name came up empty. However, a staffer at the NPA office assured The Tyee that the files on Armstrong had been accidentally lost during revisions of the site and would be replaced, and that Armstrong was still in place as the NPA campaign chair.

'They're trying to embarrass me': Armstrong

Armstrong spoke out against the council letter, telling Mike Howell of the Vancouver Courier that it had been politically motivated, a charge Anton echoed in an interview with The Tyee.

In the Courier, Armstrong said "I think they're just trying to find ways to either embarrass me or put pressure on me. I'm disappointed and I think it's unbecoming for the city councillors. They're using my employees as a bit of a pawn."

Anton concurred. "I think there is a possible political motive," she said. "Why would councillors want to get involved with a private labour dispute?"

COPE's Ellen Woodsworth told The Tyee that she signed the letter, an initiative of Vision's Geoff Meggs, because "workers need to know that council supports demands for decent wages and conditions. The tourist industry is very important to us."

Meggs said it was important for council to support people in trouble, especially in a key sector like tourism. He said he was disturbed the Rocky Mountaineer workers had been locked out and replaced by strike breakers.

Woodsworth and Meggs denied Anton's claim that the letter was a political ploy to embarrass the NPA. [Tyee]

Tom Sandborn covers labour and health policy beats for the Tyee. You can find his previous Tyee stories here. He welcomes your feedback and story tips at tos@infinet.net.

22 Comments:

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  • Dan the socialist

    37 weeks ago

    There is nothing worse on

    There is nothing worse on the planet than a low life scab.

  • Grumpy

    37 weeks ago

    The Rocky Mountaineer...........

    .....is a third class hotel train run by a chap who thinks himself a 19th century railway baron. This over priced hotel train exists solely because of huge favours done by federal and provincial politicians and in return, they get sizable political donations.

    To keep a third rate hotel train on the rails, one must pay low, low wages and thus it is easy to see why there is a strike.

  • pianosaurus rex

    37 weeks ago

    settle it instead of bitching about it

    Regardless of who is a scab and whether or not the train is rated first, second or third class, BOTH SIDES, should find some maturity within themselves, cease and desist from the “blame game” in public and settle this one.

    Then the whole thing goes away for both sides. The result at the moment is “he said she said” which never endears either side to the general public.

    At the moment, the egos of both the union rep and the management rep have turned this one into the usual pissing match. Then everyone yawns and ignores the entire thing……

  • Vox.Pop

    37 weeks ago

    Scabs

    Capital is vast & fluid - as such it can flow to wherever there is a good return or away from a bad situation: this is the dilemma facing the owners of this travel company. On the other hand, labour is pretty well fixed & its costs are inflexible (the rent must be paid), so the workers have to join a union to gain some strength in numbers. The workers need the work & cannot keep reducing their needs, hence their firmness in negotiating. Picketing is one of the few civil tactics left open to them.
    Capitalism always wants to have a surplus of workers to keep the price of labour low & call on the unemployed to undercut those who are working but become intransigent. Don't blame the unemployed - their needs are more desperate than the strikers. It is the system that is at fault: capitalism has inherent flaws & contradictions.

  • Vox.Pop

    37 weeks ago

    Resolving Strikes

    Here's a suggestion to resolve strikes, particularly involving private companies that do not publish their financial information.
    Set up a three person group of arbitrators whose decision is binding on both parties. There can be a representative from each party plus one neutral member agreeable to both sides. The company must submit their financial documentation (such as last year's audited financial statements) to the group who must respect that this information is confidential. The "three wise men" (maybe women, just joking) may call representatives from both sides but then they thrash out the numbers & make a decision in less than 2 weeks.

  • TYRONE

    37 weeks ago

    I see corruption in this whole system . . .

    . . . and the sooner it collapses - the better!

  • snert

    37 weeks ago

    For Grumpy

    http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/let-the-train-take-the-strain-say-dialaflight-as-rocky-mountaineer-wins-worlds-best-train-ride-128304368.html

  • snert

    37 weeks ago

    A complication

    I believe that the Engineers and Conductors on these trains are CN or CP employees which means they are federally regulated whereas the attendants are probably provincially regulated.

    Federally regulated railways in conjunction with the Canada Labour Board have pretty well emasculated their unions as far as participating in any strike actions what-so- ever.

  • Grumpy

    37 weeks ago

    @Snert

    You cannot possibly believe that the Rocky Mountaineer 'tourist train' (it is not even a hotel train as passengers sleep off the train) can compare to the "Blue Train" or the mecca of rail enthusiasts the Darjeeling "toy Train" mountain train.

    What you link is nothing more than a paid for PR ad and nothing more.

    As for famous trains, the following make the Rocky Mountaineer 2nd rate.

    http://blog.hotelclub.com/9-best-train-journeys-in-the-world/

    For famous trains, BC got rid of BC Rail's passenger service which did have international cache. Now we have a good pal of Campbell and the Liberals running a 2nd rate tourist train, pretending hes some sort of rail Barron, which he ain't.

  • marcerickson

    37 weeks ago

    They've used Craigslist to hire staff for a while now

    I had an interview there in March or April of 2009 and I initially found the position on Craigslist.

    I don't recall the wage I was offered, but it was competitive with similar positions at the time - if it hadn't been, I would have remembered that.

  • Cool Hand

    37 weeks ago

    What's Really Going On Here

    CAW

    CAW has represented Rocky Mountaineer employees since 1990 - for a period of almost 11 years. From my understanding, the CAW union/RMRT employer relationship has always been "good".

    That fact can be corroborated by arbitrator Vince Ready in this July/2006 decision in favour of CAW.

    http://www.cawcouncil4000.com/arbitration-caw-rmv.pdf

    One of Top 50 Employers in Canada

    In fact, during 2007 RMRT was ranked 23rd on the annual Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine/Hewitt Associates’ 50 Best Employers in Canada. No small feat.

    Furthermore, RMRT employees apparently earn $60,000, comprising wages and gratuities for a 6-month stint. Not too shabby.

    Rocky Mountaineer RailTours Awards

    1. “Five-time winner of World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train.” ‒ World Travel Awards

    2. “Named as one of the World’s Greatest Trips.” - National Geographic

    3. “The Best Train Experience in the World” - Society of American Travel Writers

    And on and on.

    Teamsters Raid CAW

    Knowing that the collective agreement would be up in mid/2011, Teamsters Local 31 raided the CAW local representing RMRT employees promising them the moon. No doubt RMRT employees bought Teamsters Local 31 pitch, which is ultimately unfortunate for them.

    BTW, Teamsters Local 31 is not affiliated with the BC Fed according to their website.

    It appears that their bargaining committee is as useless as the BCTF's bargaining committee, which mostly always has and will be legislated back to work with their unreasonable demands.

    Based upon my review of the issues, CAW would have negotiated a settlement with RMRT - but not the intransigent Teamsters bargaining committee. Double-bunking overnight in Kamloops? That's slavery? I've done that and triple-bunked in my life.

    They have basically lost their members ~$60,000 over the summer high-season, which their members will never financially make up. Those that will still be left, that is.

    Also, don't be surprised to see a new union representing RMRT employees after this fiasco is over.

    Scab Labour

    With an intransigent union threatening strike action in early summer, RMRT had no other alternative but to hire replacement workers to end that uncertainty to their business. It's permitted by federal law.

    For that matter, NDP governments in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia will NOT bring in provincial anti-scab legislation. Perhaps the BC Liberal government should also follow their lead?

    And lastly, Van City councillor Geoff Meggs getting involved in a dispute that is not within the city's realm. Highly popular Surrey mayor Dianne Watts wouldn't operate like that. You lose moderate swing voters that way as well.

    The same Geoff Meggs who was instrumental in a $500,000 wasteful study to remove the Georgia/Dunsmuir viaducts, when Van City can't remove 'em as they are part of Translink's "Major Road Network".

    Go figure.

  • Grumpy

    37 weeks ago

    Ha, ha, ha

    The previous so-called rail tour awards claimed by the Rocky Mountaineer are nothing more than paid advertising - give a reporter or the award committee a free trip and you get a positive report.

    The Rockey Mountaineer is a 2nd rate tourist train traveling through first rate vistas.

    Real rail enthusiasts tend a shy away from tourist trains, except if they are steam or vintage electric or of historical note, like the Orient Express, and prefer to travel on established (timetabled) passenger trains.

    The real story with all this industrial action is that RM revenues are thinning and major cost cutting is needed to keep the operation running.

  • snert

    37 weeks ago

    Grumpy

    Quote:
    Real rail enthusiasts tend a shy away from tourist trains, except if they are steam or vintage electric or of historical note, like the Orient Express, and prefer to travel on established (timetabled) passenger trains.

    Sorry, but I don't think you know any real rail enthusiasts. If you did you wouldn't make that statement.

  • Grumpy

    37 weeks ago

    Ha, ha, ha

    When the Troll strikes, his ignorance is astounding. Sounds like the Rockey Mountaineer pays your way.

    Real rail enthusiasts like real trains, the ones that run daily and carry people. Rail enthusiasts will take hotel trains because most are famous in their own right, like the Orient Express. Real train enthusiasts will take vintage tourist trains that are vintage steam (well all steam is vintage) or any other vintage train of note.

    Real train enthusiasts take trains for the experience. Train enthusiasts may take the Rockey Mountaineer for the scenery, but not the experience as it is just a high priced tourist train and by all accounts, riding into rough times.

    I know, I am a train enthusiast and the highlights of my railway experience is actually driving a steam locomotive in the UK and riding on the Zillertalbahn.

  • Landrew Wangstunhoff

    37 weeks ago

    Rocky Mountaineer

    Well it is very obvious RM is a second rate operation that depends on great scenery, so why would any skilled, unionized people work there and why would the Union waste any time or money on such a second rate business that shouldn't be successful?

    I would only work for a solid unionized business or preferably, the government where the work is easier and the vacation and benefits are much better.

  • snert

    37 weeks ago

    Grumpy

    Ha, ha, ha yourself. A serious rail buff will ride any train they can climb on board.

    Quote:
    Real train enthusiasts take trains for the experience. Train enthusiasts may take the Rockey Mountaineer for the scenery, but not the experience as it is just a high priced tourist train and by all accounts, riding into rough times.

    Who cares why they climb on board contrary to what you are trying to say they still do.

    FWIW I'm not a big fan of either the RM or Via but then if I wanted to I could probably make a phone call and ride some of the same territory on an freight engine with a much better view.

  • Grumpy

    37 weeks ago

    As Barnum observed..................

    .........there is a sucker born every minute.

    As the RM is the only game in town, and the management has desperately tried to keep it that way, they will continue to carry people. Break the RM monopoly, then it would quietly disappear.

  • onboard1

    37 weeks ago

    Cool Hand is NOT in the know

    Great article. Many reader comments are misleading.
    "Cool Hand" was most notable.
    The only truth I did see in that post is that the CAW had a good relationship with management. To be clear, not so much with the members it represented. In 1999 CAW swapped overtime out for "overtime averaging" in a back room deal with the company which amounted to a great loss for the onboard workers. When it was realized that our contract was quite poor, membership started feeling unhappy with our representation.
    Teamsters did not approach us. One of our members took it upon themselves to shop around for a union that seemed more responsive to our concerns. The integrity that Rod Blackburn showed really impressed them. The membership changed representation in the fall of 2010.
    For a time, being seen as a good employer was a focus, and measures were made to make the employees feel that their experience mattered to Rocky Mountaineer. I do applaud them for getting in the top 50 employers, in addition to the many awards they've won based on the service of the staff that are now standing on the sidewalk.
    Rather irrelevant at this point, and selling a trip based on this current untruth is misleading. This company seems to have taken an about face practically on a dime here. They have always taken guest feedback very seriously, and now it is disregarded. Read trip advisor, and note the date of the posts. Rocky has solicited posts from pre-lockout guests in an attempt to combat the barrage of poor review posted in recent times.
    They posted an old blog article on their facebook page from 10 years ago and updated it with new product placement, and threw in a picture of a scab, in an attempt to appear that these are current impressions. I remember the original article, and one of the staff that the writer raves about is now locked out; misleading. Guests are not informed about the dispute, and do not get informed until they are approaching the station. The information is inaccurate, and the guests are told that a few people are upset at how certain people were promoted to management. Guests are horrified to learn the truth, and their outrage falls on deaf ears. There is a staunch no refund policy.
    I can assure you that ANY employee in the company would be quick to rate them as their worst employer at this point... even the scabs (if you assured them anonymity considering they are working in constant fear of dismissal).

  • onboard1

    37 weeks ago

    More things "Cool Hand" doesn't know

    Just to be clear, this $60,000 wage figure is outrageous. Even when our season was much longer, and the gratuities were better we were not making anywhere near these figures. We earn 16.51 and hour, and we do not make overtime (a few do, and it is rare because it is averaged over a 2 month period).
    Teamsters has not caused the membership to lose any of the wages we have not earned. It was the calculated decision of Rocky Mountaineer to starve out it's long time employees. The membership felt that we should get some improvements in our contract after making a 2 year sacrifice. We were unwilling to accept the 8 cent and hour increase that the company was offering (last they mentioned 2 months ago, we have to have a 2% roll back and share rooms). Now it's longest serving member, there since the inception is facing eviction with her 3 children. Nice work Rocky. Things went sour really quickly, and I personally hope that Peter Armstrong will see that this is not the path to success.

  • ifsandsnbutts

    37 weeks ago

    I'm finding it laughable...

    to hear of "politics" playing a role in this stand-off, and being complained about by the Armstrong camp. Wasn't the RMRT made possible by slick political moves? Yes, it was.

    Guess it depends on whose ox is being gored doesn't it Mr. Armstrong?

  • snert

    37 weeks ago

    Grumpy

    Quote:
    As the RM is the only game in town, and the management has desperately tried to keep it that way, they will continue to carry people. Break the RM monopoly, then it would quietly disappear.

    Get real. They don't have to try real hard. Do you seriously think that either of the big railways are going to throw their track open to competition.

    The only way the game will change is if RM can't pay it's rent. If that happens the service is more likely to vaporize than get restarted by someone else.

  • onboard1

    37 weeks ago

    social media bombing

    I just heard on the CBC news that there was an email leak from the NPA campaign which confirms my suspicion that Peter Armstrong uses his staff and x-staff (Alistair Henry aka "BlindingTruth", among others... "Cool Hand"?) to clutter the comment section of news articles with slander, mistruths and general negativity in an attempt to sway public opinion. He also does the opposite which is to solicit positive comments from previously happy guests (pre-lockout) to post on trip advisor. One such guest who followed-through with the request and then realized what they'd been made a part of was quite incensed to say the least. https://www.facebook.com/notes/rocky-mountain-train-lockout/extract-of-an-email-from-guest-who-contacted-us-after-posting-a-review-on-tripad/155252931227143
    This tactic is ugly and misleading. I am not a supporter of Susan Anton, AND I think she'd be doing better without your bad advice.

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