CP to shut rail yard
Published: February 17th 2009
Source: Sarah Buell, Special to The Windsor Star
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CP Rail says it will lay off as many as 30 Windsor mechanical workers and close the west end rail yard as part of a Canadawide cost-cutting effort.

The job cuts, which will affect 60 mechanical workers across the country, have raised concerns about railway safety.

CAW Local 101 president Tom Murphy said CP Rail planned to submit an exemption request to the federal government last week to bypass inspections in Windsor.

The railway must have taken federal permission as a "given" because it has already gone ahead and announced the layoffs, Murphy said.

SHUTDOWN SURPRISE

The shutdown of the Windsor rail yard came as a surprise to the CAW, Murphy said.

Originally only four mechanical workers were to be laid off on a temporary basis.

The yard is to be shut down by June 6.

Murphy said the move has raised safety concerns.

Trains are inspected in the U.S, at much lower safety standards than in Canada, he said. Bypassing Windsor inspections would mean trains coming through from the U.S would not be inspected in Canada until they reached Toronto.

According to the CAW, the layoff announcements bring the national mechanical forces layoffs to 300.