Image Credit: Canadian Press

By Ashley Legassic

CN STRIKE

Kamloops CN workers to rally downtown

Nov 24, 2019 | 12:49 PM

KAMLOOPS — CN Rail workers who are on strike while the Teamsters Union negotiates with the company will be holding a rally in downtown Kamloops today.

Chris Parkins is the Teamsters Division 855 president here in Kamloops and says the rally is being held to raise awareness about their cause.

“We’re basically raising awareness for rail safety,” Parkins says. “We work longer, more obscure hours than most people do, averaging from 80 to 100 hours a week, and we’re trying to basically raise awareness that we transport dangerous commodities through the communities, that we are looking for safer working conditions and ultimately none of this has to do with money.”

CN says the six-day-old strike is about money, while workers maintain their top priorities are safety and work hours. Parkins says he can’t comment on what the parties are actually negotiating since it’s not his department, but says the goal of today is to bring the safety and well-being of rail workers into the public eye.

“Like I said, we work long hours and we just want to make sure everyone’s home safely at the end of the day,” Parkins says. “We transport things 24/7, 365 (days a year), and when we’re not rested we’re not at our best, and we want to be rested and prepared for work so we’re not fatigued in our jobs.”

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The rally will start at the old CN Rail station near the old Keg location around 2:00 p.m. Workers will march toward the Sandman Centre and then to Riverside Park.

For more on the event, go here.