Query: "Spanish Practices"

[Jeffrey William McKeough]

>From <www.iedm.org/library/palda7_en.html>:

     Given the "spanish" practices (rules and work procedures that
     lead to overmanning) which are embedded in existing labour
     contracts between the railways and the rail unions, it is very
     doubtful that any operator could successfully operate a shortline
     interprovincially without obtaining significant changes in the
     existing union agreements. The existence of successor rights in
     at least one important case will very likely mean that a
     potentially economical interprovincial line will be abandoned
     rather than conveyed to a shortline operator. In 1992, Canadian
     Pacific applied to the National Transportation Agency for
     permission to abandon all its lines east of Sherbrooke,
     Quebec. These lines, comprising 700 kilometres of track of the
     Canadian Atlantic Railway, extend from Sherbrooke across Maine to
     St. John, New Brunswick. One of the prime reasons that Canadian
     Pacific is seeking to abandon the line rather than convert it to
     a shortline operator is that although it is potentially
     economically viable under realistic work rules and staffing
     levels, the mandated successor rights do not allow for the
     required flexibility. Thus a potentially viable interprovincial
     rail line will be abandoned rather than operated as a shortline,
     harming all regional residents.

--
Jeffrey William McKeough
jwm at spdcc.com (or spdcc.net)