A union representing more than 100 Revelstoke railway workers has told Black Press Media that CPKC intends to relocate a "major portion" of local work and labour to Kamloops, as negotiations continue.
On Tuesday, July 29, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said by email that its members are "devastated and anxious over what the future holds" following CPKC's notice that it's "moving a major portion of the work performed by Revelstoke employees to Kamloops."
According to TCRC vice-president Ryan Finnson, 124 employees it represents "will be affected by this relocation of work." This includes locomotive engineers, yard workers and conductors, but doesn't include the dozens of other CPKC employees in Revelstoke represented by Unifor, which Black Press Media has also reached out to.
"The scale of this move will be incredibly challenging," Finnson said. "The TCRC is disappointed that (CPKC) has elected to pursue this course of action and cannot comment on why this move is being undertaken."
In a statement sent Wednesday, July 30, CPKC spokesman Terry Cunha told Black Press Media that Revelstoke "is and will remain an important operational center and crew area."
However, despite CPKC's continuous hiring efforts and investment in a 48-unit housing project for Revelstoke employees in recent years, "due to the high cost of living and housing in the city, many CPKC employees have requested transfers or resigned," Cunha added.
"Maintaining staff levels and filling several positions has remained a persistent challenge."
In recent weeks, online ads have circulated for a CPKC hiring fair happening in Salmon Arm next Thursday, Aug. 7, to recruit workers, namely for Revelstoke.
Now, CPKC is considering solutions such as "transferring some running trade employees to Kamloops from Revelstoke" to fill employee shortages and improve efficiency of operations, Cunha said.
"This has come to us as a complete surprise," TCRC public affairs director Christopher Monette told Black Press Media, adding that "we're still in early days" bargaining with CPKC.
On the phone, he emphasized that CPKC "is not performing a full shutdown of Revelstoke," but rather relocating some of its workforce two-and-a-half hours west to Kamloops.
"We just want to make sure (CPKC) is doing everything it can to mitigate these adverse impacts on our workers," Monette said.
As per its collective agreement with TCRC, CPKC must mitigate these impacts "subject to appropriate notice and negotiation with the union," Finnson said, with talks currently focusing on relocation allowances and wage protections to support employees amid operational changes and loss of work in Revelstoke.
While Monette said TCRC won't publicly share bargaining offers, he emphasized that CPKC workers typically earn upwards of $100,000 per year, along with pension, benefits and higher salaries for senior positions.
But the highly-specialized, "rarefied" nature of these jobs means employees who do move on often have to pursue very different career paths with different skill sets. And for those who stay with CPKC, Monette said it's likely that workers with higher seniority will have more sway in whether they get to remain stationed in Revelstoke, rather than move to Kamloops.
"Most previous relocations have not resulted in mutual agreement, ultimately being settled through arbitration," Finnson said, adding CPKC's notice of shifting staff to another station "is not unusual" and follows another terminal relocation announcement that came earlier this year in Ontario.
In CPKC's online statement on rail relocation, it says "relocation of rail lines and yards is a complex and serious issue which would involve CPKC, local and national customers, regulators, local community organizations and all levels of government. This would also require an extensive review "to determine the impact to customer service and the full cost to all stakeholders, which will be significant."
Finnson said TCRC seeks to minimize adverse impact on union members as CPKC looks to implement this relocation of labour starting Dec. 4. Until then, Monette noted monthly meetings may run "for several days at a time" as CPKC and its worker unions determine the fate of Revelstoke's railway operations.
Regardless of what gets decided for the city at the bargaining table this summer and fall, "don't expect this to be good news economically," he advised.
Black Press Media has reached out to Brad Templeton, CPKC's Revelstoke superintendent, for comment.