Due to blockades by anti-pipeline protests that continue to disrupt rail service across the country, Via Rail says it has no choice but to temporarily cut hundreds of jobs.
The national passenger rail service issued layoff notices to 1,000 of its workers on Wednesday, despite plans to resume service in southwestern Ontario along the Windsor-London-Toronto, Toronto-Sarnia, and Toronto-Niagara corridors.
Via Rail has cited the reason behind the job cuts is the continued interruption of service on tracks operated by CN Rail. This does not affect the Windsor-Toronto line, or the partial resumption of service between Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City.
"This general interruption is an unprecedented situation in our history. In 42 years of existence, it is the first time that VIA Rail, a public intercity passenger rail service, has to interrupt most of its services across the country," VIA Rail President and CEO Cynthia Garneau said in a statement.
Service disruptions were due to blockades from anti-pipeline protesters in British Columbia and Ontario. The carrier had no choice but to temporarily suspend service nationwide last week after CN Rail announced its intention to do so. VIA Rail trains mostly run on CN tracks.
The carrier said it will honour its commitments under current collective bargaining agreements in terms of providing notices to employees. It also said it was confident that once complete service resumes, the laid-off employees will be returned to work as soon as possible.
"Since the beginning of the crisis, we have been closely working with the infrastructure owner in order to formulate a progressive, safe and orderly resumption plan," said Garneau. "We have done everything to mitigate the impact on our employees and our passengers. At this point, we believe we have made the fairest and most reasonable decision with the proposed temporary suspension plan. I would like to thank all our union partners for their collaboration and comprehension."
