CN Rail wrong for punishing safe worker

[CliqueofOne]

VANCOUVER.CBC.CA News - Full Story : CN Rail wrong for punishing safe worker
Last Updated: May 7 2004 04:18 PM PDT

VANCOUVER - A CN conductor killed in a train wreck last year has posthumously won a safety dispute with the rail giant.
More than a year before he died, CN rail disciplined Ken Lequesne for refusing to work in unsafe conditions. Now, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board has ruled CN breached the labour code.

Lequesne died in a train wreck near McBride last May. But Tim Secord of the United Transportation Union calls this a moral victory.

"It's pretty important," Secord says. "It's a vindication. It also sends a message to the other employees that Ken Lequesne was right on the money when he exercised his right to refuse unsafe work, and that those other employees, if they find themselves in a similar situation, should consider doing the same thing."

Lequesne worked as a conductor for 20 years and had an unblemished work record. Then, in 2002, he stopped a freight train in Prince George because of problems with paperwork about dangerous goods onboard.

CN disciplined him for delaying the freight train by an hour and a half.

And, Secord says, the company made Lequesne's life difficult. "The employer dogged him around the property for the next year or so, always looking over his shoulder. They wanted their train to move and they didn't care if it was safe or not."

Secord says accurate train records are important because in an emergency, crews have to quickly determine which cars are hazardous.

The Industrial Labour Board agreed. It ordered CN to rescind its displinary action against Lequesne.

[:D]

[rixflix]

Chalk up a win for Lequesne!!!
CN and the worms couldn't quite finish him.
Hope he'll live on in better rules.
Rix

[Anonymous]

More dirt on CNs face.

They may be the most efficient railway out there, but at what cost to the employees?

I hear nothing but bad things coming from the mouths of their RTEs, and this is just something that confirms that hear-say.

[AntonioFP45]

Indeed, this is very good news!

It's rather shocking that some CN managers would have a callous attitude when it comes to this critical safety issue. It's a well know fact that when firefighting crews arrive at the scene of a freight train derailment, the first person they want to talk to is the conductor! They need to know immedieltely what the cars are carrying; and which are Haz-Mat. Sounds more like this conductor was actually helping CN in "Lawsuit Prevention".

As in many transportation companies there are usually some arrogant or small thinking managers with gigantic egos. They don't like to be questioned or challenged by subordinates, even if it's proper and legitiimate. So they start to harass the employee.

To CN railroaders,
Though Mr. Lequensne is gone, CN employees and the Union should consider establishing a fund, scholarship, etc, in his name that is "Safety Related" so that
this won't be swept under a carpet and forgotten.