Vol. 80/No. 6 February 15, 2016
Quebec unionists protest frame-up of rail workers
A Jan. 28 hearing on charges laid by Transport Canada and Environment Canada against Harding, Labrie, the now-bankrupt Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and five company bosses was abruptly cancelled and rescheduled for May 3.
Along with former Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway official Jean Demaitre, the two rail workers already face life in prison on 47 counts of criminal negligence causing death, levied by the Quebec Crown Prosecutor. After many delays — including the prosecutor’s extraordinary cancellation of a preliminary hearing where the defense could have learned the basis for the charges — the next court hearing is set for April 4.
“The prosecutor still refuses to reveal the basis for the charges against Harding and Labrie,” Thomas Walsh, Tom Harding’s lawyer, told the Militant.
‘Workers aren’t guilty’
“It is not the workers who caused this,” Jacques Breton, a production worker at the Bestar furniture manufacturing plant and president of Bestar Unifor union Local 299, told the Militant Jan. 27. “The workers aren’t guilty.”Breton is mayor of the village of Nantes. Like other supporters of Harding and Labrie, he is locked in an ongoing struggle with Transport Canada and bosses of the tracks’ new owner, the Central Maine and Quebec Railway, to enforce safe rail operation in the region.
“I don’t understand how Transport Canada can say these are safe,” he said as he displayed photos of the tracks behind his house. “They haven’t replied to our request for information on the toxic chemicals the CMQR is currently transporting. The only way to deal with the railways is through popular mobilization.”
He and other workers are demanding the federal government immediately halt all transport of toxic goods until repairs are made to tracks, culverts and other deteriorated parts of the rail system. They are fighting for Ottawa to build a rail bypass around Lac-Mégantic.
Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau announced Jan. 30 that his office is conducting a “study” into the feasibility of moving the tracks. He also said John Giles, president of Central Maine and Quebec Railway, promised not to transport any crude oil through the city in 2016.
Because of government dispensation to protect the rail bosses’ profits, Harding was the sole crew member the night of the explosion. He parked the train after his 12-hour shift and, with the lead engine running to power the air brakes, he set seven additional hand brakes and left to get some sleep.
Due to lack of company maintenance, a fire broke out on the engine during the night. Volunteer firefighters from Nantes, where the train was parked, eight miles from Lac-Mégantic, switched off the engine when they put the fire out. When the dispatcher woke and informed him about the situation, Harding volunteered to go back and start another engine, company tapes of the phone call show. Go to sleep, the dispatcher said, the company has sent someone else. But they sent a track manager not trained on locomotives and he failed to start another engine. The air brakes bled out and the train rolled, crashed and exploded.
The Vancouver General Hospital local of the Hospital Employees Union voted Jan. 19 to back the framed-up rail workers and send $350 to help pay for their legal expenses.
Contributions can be sent in Canada to Syndicat des Métallos, 565, boulevard Crémazie Est, bureau 5100, Montreal, QC H2M 2V8. In the U.S. checks can be sent to Tom Harding Defense Fund, First Niagara Bank, 25 McClellan Drive, Nassau, NY 12123.
Send solidarity messages to their union local, USW 1976 / Section locale 1976, 2360 De Lasalle, Suite 202, Montreal, QC H1V 2L1. Email: info@1976usw.ca. Copies should be sent to Thomas Walsh, 165 Rue Wellington N. Suite 310, Sherbrooke, QC Canada J1H 5B9. Email: thomaspwalsh@hotmail.com.
Related articles:
Canadian rail workers fight for safety on the job
On the Picket Line
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