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Vol. 79/No. 32 September 14, 2015
Railroad Workers United calls
Chicago rail safety conference
BY MAGGIE TROWE
Railroad Workers United will sponsor a one-day conference titled
“Railroad Safety: Workers, Community and the Environment” Sept. 19 in
Chicago. The RWU is organizing the event with labor and environmental
groups, including United Steelworkers Local 1527, Frack Free Illinois
and the Southeast Environmental Task Force. It is a follow-up to earlier
conferences in Richmond, California, and Olympia, Washington.
“The 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster put a spotlight on how rail bosses put
profits ahead of safety and made these conferences necessary and
possible,” Mark Burrows, a steering committee member of Railroad Workers
United and delegate in SMART TD Local 1433 union, told the Militant in a
phone interview Sept. 1.
On July 6, 2013, an unmanned runaway 72-car Montreal, Main and Atlantic
train carrying volatile crude oil derailed and exploded in downtown
Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing 47 people, destroying the downtown area
and dumping millions of gallons of oil into the soil and lake there. The
catastrophe commanded worldwide attention and spurred concern about the
dangers posed by the massive increase of North American oil production
and its transport by train through the centers of cities and towns
across the continent.
Government, bosses blame workers Government, bosses blame workers
Less widely known is the effort by the Canadian government and rail
capitalists to pin the blame for the disaster on two rail workers.
On March 12, 2014, locomotive engineer Tom Harding and train controller
Richard Labrie, both members of the United Steelworkers union, along
with Jean Demaitre, MMA manager of train operations, were arrested by
Quebec provincial police — Harding by a SWAT team at gunpoint. They were
charged with 47 counts of criminal negligence causing death and face up
to life imprisonment if convicted.
“RWU supports the Tom Harding defense against the serious and ominous
charges against him,” Burrows said. “This case will have a place in the
conference. Not only rail workers, but any worker in an industry with
the potential for a serious accident with devastating consequences
should be alarmed by the implications.”
Burrows blames the MMA and the Canadian government, which granted a
special exemption to the now-defunct company to operate with a
one-person “crew,” for the disaster.
The MMA train was parked on a slope pointing downhill toward the town,
as per company practice. After a fire broke out on a locomotive, local
firefighters shut down the lead engine, inadvertently releasing the
train’s air brakes. The hand brakes Harding had set then failed and the
train rolled into town, derailing and exploding and turning downtown
Lac-Mégantic into an inferno.
When the company manager called Harding at his motel to let him know the
locomotive had caught fire, he said he asked if he should return to the
train. He was told to go back to sleep. After the explosion he went to
the scene and risked his life helping firefighters uncouple cars that
had not yet ignited, preventing them from exploding. Many workers in the
town regard him as a hero.
A Sept. 8 court hearing in Lac-Mégantic will set the date for the
trials. Defenders of the framed-up workers will attend, and invite
others to do so.
“The tragedy of Lac-Mégantic vividly illustrates the stakes involved for
all of us,” Burrows said. “The way the bosses have pushed the union and
safety protections back is responsible for overworked, fatigued,
understaffed train crews operating ridiculously long and heavy trains
with deadly commodities. It’s a life-and-death issue for us as workers
as well as for the surrounding communities.”
There have been at least 10 more derailments of oil trains, most leading
to fires or explosions, since the Lac-Mégantic disaster.
Workshops at the conference will address single-employee train crews and
the hazards they pose for workers, community and the environment; crew
fatigue, “task overload” and the need for well-rested train crews; and
efforts by citizens and environmental groups in the Chicago area to
confront the dangers posed by trains moving through their communities.
“All over Chicago long oil trains run through every day,” Burrows said.
“Some groups are mapping out the routes and the surrounding areas that
would be affected if a train derailed or exploded to let people know
that, even if they’re a few blocks away from the tracks, they’re still
in danger.”
The conference begins at 8 a.m. Sept. 19 at the United Electrical union
hall, 37 S. Ashland Ave. For more information or to register, visit
www.railroadconference.org.
Related articles:
Steelworkers rally against boss takeaway demands
Negotiations continue as contracts expire
Frame-up of Phila. Ironworker poses what road for labor
On the Picket Line
Wash. farmworkers expand fight for $15/hr, union
Why labor should oppose the imperialist war drive
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