(The following story by Joe Matyas appeared on the London Free Press website on July 23, 2009.)
LONDON, Ontario — It could be high noon for Via Rail Friday, with the country pushed to the brink of a national rail passenger strike and no trains running.
Thousands of passengers stand to be affected in the crucial southern Ontario market — at prime travel season — in which London is a key stop.
Via was set to bargain to a noon deadline Friday with a government-appointed mediator and the union for its 340 yardmasters and locomotive engineers.
To make sure passengers aren’t left stranded by the labour dispute, Via began cancelling all long-distance train service Thursday. After noon Friday, all Via service will be cancelled until a settlement is reached, the company said on its website.
The fallout of a strike or lockout — in prime travel season — would hurt not only travellers, but also other Via workers who would be laid off plus many businesses that cater to passengers, including cab drivers.
In London, one of Via’s busiest stations, some passengers were taking no chances.
Helen Nuss was among them.
Nuss, bound for Toronto, said she bought a ticket for an immediate departure a day early, worried she wouldn’t be able to get the train Friday.
“I absolutely have to be in Toronto for the weekend and I absolutely have to be back in London on Monday,” she said, unsure how she’d get back if the trains stop. “I’ll have to take a bus or sprout wings.”
Ticket agents weren’t able to accommodate Nuss’s return plans Thursday.
“We were told this morning to stop selling short-term tickets and our computers show no seats available for the next three days,” one agent said. “We’re hoping there won’t be any labour dispute because if there is, we’ll likely be laid off.”
Via engineers, represented by the Teamster Canada Rail Conference, have been working under a contract that expired Dec. 31, 2006.
One ticket agent wondered why the union waited so long to bring things to a head, considering no progress has been made in talks for 2 1/2 years.
“We’re in a different union — the CAW — so it’s not our fight.” said the agent. “But we’ll certainly be affected by a dispute and so will Via employees who work on the trains.”
The ticket agent said he and his colleagues were working on the day’s business and returns Thursday, but not advance bookings.
Outside the station, about 15 cabs were lined up for incoming passengers.
“You have to work long hours to make a living in the taxi business at any time of the year, but it’s even tougher in the summer,” said Aboutown driver Noor Mohammed. “The train station is one of those places where we can come a few times a day and usually catch a fare worth $10 to $20, more if you’re lucky.”
With 106 Via trains serving London each week, 53 departing and 53 arriving, the station is an important hub on Via’s most important corridor — Windsor to Quebec City — with about 4,000 passengers a week.
Via’s annual ridership rose to a record 4.6 million last year, up 10% in one year, and revenues to a record $299 million, up nearly 5%. About 85 per cent of the traffic and three-quarters of the revenue came from the Windsor-Quebec City corridor.
Via’s engineers and yardmasters had voted 91.2% in favour of a strike and set a deadline of noon Friday. Wages, benefits and a scheduling issue that leaves engineers uncertain when they’ll be required for work are among the contract stumbling blocks, said Dan Shewchuk, president of Teamster Canada Rail Conference. A federal mediator was appointed to help break the impasse at contract talks in Montreal.
A labour dispute could hurt the Canadian tourism business, already struggling in a down economy, the Canadian Tourism Association said.