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CN Prince George Fair will bring on new CAW Local 4001 members
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From July 9 through 11, CN held a job fair in Prince George, B.C., where more than 300 people
applied for various CN positions, including CAW Council 4000 positions of Servocentre Control
Clerks, Customer Support Reps and various positions for the new Prince George Transload
and Intermodal Centre.
CN invited Council 4000 Regional Representative Barry Kennedy, newly elected Local 4001
President Ron Shore and CAW Prince George Local Chairperson Joe Louro to the job fair,
which was held at the Prince George Civic Centre.
Louro, who has lived most of his life in Northern British Columbia, said that the recent increase
of new jobs in the Prince George Terminal has breathed new life in CN's Prince George
workforce. "Its great to see new and younger employees, and see our union membership in
this area grow. Its an exciting time right now. We haven't seen this here in a long time."
Ron Shore said he welcomes the new members into Local 4001. "We are seeing a significant
increase in our membership levels at CN, with the hiring of new CNTL Owner Operators in
Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, plus potential Owner Operators to come for the new
Intermodal operations in Prince George. Plus, new employees have been hired in Edmonton,
Calgary, Vancouver and Prince George. Its exciting. We have been to use to downsizing."
During the job fair, Louro, Shore and Kennedy met with officials from CN Worldwide and the
new Manager of the new Prince George Transload and Intermodal Terminal, which is slated to
open in October 2007.
The new facility, which is reportedly costing $20 million to complete, will be located in the CN
Prince George rail yard at the site of CN’s former Diesel and Car Shop, which was vacated
when the Company moved its mechanical operations to the former BC Rail yard following the
merger of CN and BC Rail in 2004. The existing shop complex will be transformed into an
84,000 square-foot warehouse and container stuffing facility.
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Applicants attend the CN Job Fair held July 9-11
at the Prince George Civic Centre
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The initial operations will require 23 employees to start, of which will be represented by
CAW Council 4000/Local 4001. The operations start in conjunction with the completion
and start-up of the first phase of the $180 million Port of Prince Rupert expansion project.
Barry Kennedy says that the majority of the new transload and intermodal operations at
Prince George will be staffed with new hires, as only a few of the 23 positions were bid by
existing union members and all based in Prince George. Of those existing members who
will move over to the new facility in September, when training will begin, their positions and
subsequent vacancies will also likely be filled by new hires after existing Mountain Region
members get first opportunity.
Kennedy echoed the sentiments of Joe Louro and Ron Shore, saying - "this is an exiting
time for Prince George and our Council and Local. Its nice to come to a proud and historic
railway community like Prince George to discuss positives such as hiring. All of us have
become accustom to downsizing and a shrinking workforce, particularly in Prince George,
so this is a very welcome change."
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Construction crews work on converting the former Prince George Car
and Diesel Shops into a new 84,000 square foot warehouse,
container stuffing and intermodal terminal, set to start operations in
October 2007.
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"In the early 90s, Prince George had some 40 to 50 CAW represented employees. We
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were down to only four active members based in PG and one that was laid off and on
Employment Security Benefits, despite having a 1979 seniority date."
"Despite our initial concerns with the privatization and sale of BC Rail to CN as well the
obvious deception by the Gordon Campbell government - to date, the BC Rail merger has
been good for our Council and Local. The community of Prince George has seen good
things so far as CN has made Prince George the hub for its Northern B.C. operations."
Kennedy says that "Premier Campbell should still answer to the residents of British
Columbia concerning the enormous profits that the taxpayers have lost since privatizing the
profitable BC Rail. CN now has a complete monopoly to the Port of Prince Rupert and the
increased rail and intermodal traffic in Northern B.C. is very lucrative for CN. This is
another case, as was the scenario with the privatization of CN, where our elected
politicians sold out taxpayers by selling-off a lucrative Crown Corporation to private
interests. These profits would have been nice to be shared by the taxpayers. Instead, the
CEOs who now run them have become increasingly richer millionaires and the wealthy
shareholders are those who profit. Just look at Campbell's inner circle involved with the
CN/BC Rail merger " suggests Kennedy.
[ How B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell's policies made a Rich Friend far Richer ]
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CAW Local 4001 Prince George Local Chairperson Joe Louro (left)
and Local 4001 President Ron Shore
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"We were pleased with the opportunity that CN extended to us in allowing for our participation at the job fair, and with CN Worldwide representatives meeting
with us on more than one occasion to discuss all the business plans for the new Prince George Transload and Intermodal facility. It has been a positive start
to developing a good union-management relationship that we will ensure benefits our existing and soon to come new union members in Prince George,
states Barry Kennedy.
CN held a similar job fair in Grande Prairie in June, looking to fill several Grande Prairie and Grande Cache, Alberta positions, including conductors and
locomotives engineers represented by CAW Council 4000 and Local 4001.
Related:
June 28, 2007 - New Prince George Intermodal Terminal sees new jobs for Local 4001
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