WATCH: A cell phone video shot earlier this week shows a Southern Railway train operated by managers as employees remain locked out. Those employees say approaching a train crossing with no lights in dangerous.
VANCOUVER – One hundred and twenty-six members of CUPE 7000 have been locked out by Southern Railway since Jan. 5. Now they have released a video showing, what they say, is some of their managers operating a train dangerously.
The video shows a train rolling through a crossing on Annacis Island in Delta with no headlights on. It was dark and foggy at the time and one manager can be seen riding on the stairs of the front car.
“This video raises concern about people with less experience running trains during the lockout,” said CUPE 7000 president Bill Magri. “If this kind of thing keeps happening, someone is going to get hurt.” The video was taken just after 6 p.m. on Jan. 13 at a crossing just off the Annacis Channel bridge.
Southern Railway is a short-line railway company that operates in the Lower Mainland and employees were locked out after contract talks broke down just before the new year.
The managers, who do have operational training, have been running the trains since Jan. 5.
But Magri is concerned about this practice continuing.
“They need to drop the concessions and negotiate a fair collective agreement so that we can get these trains running properly again by the people who know how to operate them and stop putting public safety at risk,” he said.
Southern Rail is owned by the Washington Group, which is owned by billionaire Dennis Washington.
A call to Southern Railway for comment was not answered by publication time.
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