"Rupert Rocket" stays on the rails!

To the relief of tourist operations from Jasper to the Queen Charlotte Islands, VIA Rails passenger link across the Northern portion of BC stayed open for business.

The CAW and VIA Rail headed off what seemed like certain job action with a negotiated contract settlement on Saturday, keeping the popular tourist train on the rails and on schedule for the peak summer season.

The Prince George Citizen provided a rather colourful description of the contract negotiations and the rail service and its importance to Northern BC.

No strike at Via Rail
(News) Sunday, 22 July 2007, 23:45 PST
by FRANK PEEBLES, Citizen staff

Via Rail workers did not go on strike Sunday in spite of the fact job action seemed certain only a day before.

The national passenger rail service, which operates the popular Rupert Rocket between Jasper and Prince Rupert, overnighting in Prince George, was less than 24 hours from picket lines when a tentative contract was reached between Via management and the Canadian Auto Workers, the union representing off-train, on-train, office and maintenance employees.

"We had been prepared to deal with the situation whichever way it turned but we were confident Via Rail was going to look after those passengers," said Deborah Kulchiski, manager of Tourism Prince George. "We were quite comfortable those passengers wouldn't have been disrupted in any way. They had other transportation methods in place either to Jasper or Prince Rupert. They were also prepared to make changes or return funds to those passengers to those passengers who really wanted the train experience."

It was a relief for those in the service sector of the local tourism industry. Food and accommodation vendors have already faced ferry disruptions starting with the sinking of the Queen of the North, landslides that blocked Highway 16 in the Skeena region, flooding of local rivers and lakes, a Greyhound Bus strike, and now this threat.

"Absolutely (a Via strike) would impact our business," Sharron MacBride, president of the Prince George Bed and Breakfast Hotline told The Citizen on Sunday. "I was there at the train station a few nights ago and three of us Bed and Breakfast hosts were all there waiting for the train. It would definitely have an impact. It was very welcome news that the strike was averted."

MacBride said many of the tourists on the train are long-range travellers who have booked their itineraries long in advance, often with tie-ins to other legs of their journey like ferry rides, bus tours or day-flights to other regional locales. Any disruption to that experience, she said, not only jostles the experience for those people but contaminates an otherwise stellar reputation for dependable travelling in British Columbia.

"This trip has been a real world-wide destination and my worry is that people will think of it less and less because of all these things that are affecting it," said MacBride. "And it is a wonderful trip. Quite often the people we see off the train are Europeans who do not have access to wilderness like this, and they are amazed. It has a wide reach when things like a work stoppage happen and affect tourism. A lot of our guests have said very, very wonderful things about the people who work on the train, they tell us they've had a wonderful time and the staff have made the trip more enjoyable by the way they take care of folks on the train. I wouldn't want to see tourists suffer and the whole region suffer any more."

Kulchiski said in her experience travellers are less upset by natural human dealings like labour disputes than by natural disasters. She also said the two Prince George Tourist Information Centres are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., so the needs of most travellers can be met even in the event of unexpected events.

"We really do spend a lot of time, especially the counsellors at the Vistor Centres, talking to travellers," Kulchiski said. "Being right in the same building as Via Rail, we were prepared to come in (Sunday) to help travellers make alternate itineraries."

Ratification of the new contract for CAW workers is still underway but management and union officials both said this weekend they believe the new deal is excellent and are confident in membership support, thus keeping all Via trains across Canada running for years to come.