Replacements

I just saw recently that Rocky Mountaineer won more travel awards last year than any other year. Seems the replacements are doing something right.

all teamsters and union

all teamsters and union members should occupy the train itself. Stopping all trips.

Rocky Mountaineer has to remain viable, doesn't it?

Are the owners/investors making obscene profits? Nope.
Does RM provide a service that also brings tourism business to several areas of BC ? Yup.
Has the tourism industry shown a massive increase in business in the past couple of years? Nope.
Is it reasonable to expect substantial increases in wages and benefits in the current economy ? Nope
Does reality suck? Yup.

No one with any sense of morality

No one with any sense of morality should pay a penny to ride this train...

With all due respect

With all due respect Kenneth,a)many of the VIP's for those awards were hosted on the train before the lockout.b) any coaches with VIP's were hosted by "newly appointed guest service managers" ie:our members who crossed the line under the guise of being promoted, or real managers. and c)if you look further into the awards, you will see that companies pay to be admitted to those categories, some of which have no competition. You would know all of that though wouldn't you? since you are one of the CAW members that crosses our line every trip are you not?

Cboo44 are the owners making

Cboo44 are the owners making obscene profits? how would you know? IT's not a publicly traded company. Did you know that 2007/08 were record breaking years for the company? Did you know that we accepted a wage freeze coming off of those record breaking years in good faith that we would be recognised and rewarded for that concession when our contract renewal came up? Did you know that after accepting a wage freeze in good faith, a new 3 million dollar advertising campaign was launched? Did you know that in the years since, the company has continued to spend countless dollars on rebranding the train,paying god know how much to run a private train for the Bachelorette, wooing high paid execs from the likes of Disney, continuing to collect bigger bonuses every year, all while slashing jobs, cutting train departures (necessary maybe, but cutting each onboard train staff's wages by thousands of dollars per season)reducing the quality of product onboard ie: food and destroying the heart and soul of the company? Did you know that since the lockout RM has spent more dollars on keeping us locked out than what we were asking for in our contract? I guess you would know all of those things since you seem to have inside information, either that, or you're a company minion who believes everything you're told.

We weren't asking for anything substantial, but two weeks after the lockout the comapany was chomping at the bit to make us take a rollback and other concessions. It's pretty clear what's happening here. When there's an economic downturn, the big execs get to maintain their lifestyle while the workers and the consumers are expected to take the hit.

Shortage of wealthy tourists...?

This article mentions NOTHING about the salaries, pensions and benefits of the (probably expensive) employees.

Obviously, however, those costs are sufficiently exorbitant to offset a "million dollars in legal fees"...

I'm not a CAW member. Just

I'm not a CAW member. Just someone who reads the papers and saw the ad about the awards. You, however, seem to have a lot of inside information for someone who is on the outside.

@Kreditanstalt

This article mentions nothing about the pensions and benefits because these locked out employees have no pension and their benefits are $500. per year for medical. that's it. Nothing else. Salaries are approx. $12-14 /hr. Expensive? No but now they have hired scabs at minimum wage.
These locked out workers were in this as a career, not a summer job. They dedicated years to learning the job. The scabs are for the most part university students looking for a summer job. Not exactly what guests paying HUGE amounts of money for the experience would be expecting.

Just wondering

Is the RM chartered federally or provincially?

snert

All rail, shipping and airline transport is federally regulated (if thats what you meant by chartered)

Rocky Mountaneer

These owners should use the model used by Westjet.

Right now RM seems to be Draconion in their management style.

I would never book a trip on this 1% railway, under this type of management.

RandyNV

Westjet is non union and contracts out much of their work such as baggage loading.
Their flight attendants who would be somewhat the equivalent of these train workers are paid peanuts compared to unionized Air Canada

happy

No that's not what I meant. BC Rail was provincially chartered but CN which now runs over the same track is federally chartered.

However, now that I think of it, CP, CN and VIA are inter-provincial carriers hence the federal charters. Different labour laws in case you're wondering why I asked.

snert

Yes I understand the difference between provincial and federal labour standards.
Provincial labour codes must meet the minimums set out in the Canada Labour Code. They can exceed those standards but cannot be lower than.
And your correct, the transportation industry by its nature, which operates across provincial boundaries falls under federal labour standards.

what pisses me off

Two things (of the many thousands) that piss me off are companies that seemingly, at the drop of a hat, lockout their workers and hire scabs, and people that bitch and complain when workers are trying to make a living wage! The whole lot of you can go pound sand up your asses!

yes Kenneth, although we are

yes Kenneth, although we are locked out, it doesn't mean that our long standing friendships within the organization have ceased to exist. We have all sorts of inside information, no gag order will stop that.

The train is considered a railway, something that, curiously, the company made official about 4 years ago. Interesting as well,is that the company is proud to use scabs under the federal labour code, but not to pay their workers according to that same code.

Hard to get excited about.

What have the Teamsters ever done for me?
There you go.
Unions suck, the employers suck.
BC sucks.
So what is new?

The reason I asked

I'm not sure of the exact status but I think the crew that actually runs the train is hamstrung as far as helping out in this dispute. They are definitely subjected to federal labour laws. These running trades have lost the right to refuse to cross a picket line.

At some point in time there will be a big blowup over this but we are talking serious fines and possible jail time for illegal participation in the labour disputes of fellow unions.

Unions only really work when

Unions only really work when the workers' demands are reasonable -- otherwise, the company can be run into the ground. So there has to be a balance between the workers being treated fairly, and the company not being held hostage by its workers unreasonable requests. The questions are, were the workers receiving a fair treatment? Were the workers' demands reasonable? If we are going to expect a fair public opinion on this issue, it may be necessary for a bit more transparency -- what exactly were the workers' demands? And if they wanted a wage increase, what was their original wage (did it necessitate an increase?)

smoke and mirrors?

"Obviously, however, those costs are sufficiently exorbitant to offset a "million dollars in legal fees"..."
I don't know about this specific scenario, but your claim does not hold water in the general sense. I have seen employers many times lose money on union bashing efforts. It's all about the ideology, nobody tells us how to run things, etc. I cannot believe you're not being facetious here, or you believe your readers don't know any better?

Three Points

First off, parts of westjet are union (pilots, techs, etc).

Second, RMR bosses have NO "moral right" to hire scabs. Let's not forget the fact (as much as corporate apologists would like us to) it is the workers who are creating the wealth through their labour, and all the risks and responsibility with it, that gives the firm its value. these people have paid not only for their jobs but the firm itself many times over (including the bloated profiteering salaries of the bosses running it)

Third, for the whining about RMR as a firm, when it was run by the labour-run Working Opportunity Fund, such problems and horrific labour relations didn't exist. Guess that proves when workers run businesses, instead of profiteering dictatorial capitalistic do-nothings, things generally run better.