Via Rail lays off 1,000 employees temporarily as blockades drag on

TORONTO — Via Rail says it is temporarily laying off 1,000 employees due to blockades that continue to halt service on CN tracks in Eastern Canada.

The Crown corporation has suspended passenger trains on its Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto routes for about two weeks due to the protests that have disrupted rail service across the country.

Via says it commends the ongoing dialogue efforts between the government and demonstrators at the rail blockades in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia.

Via says it’s proceeding with the temporary suspensions of the unionized employees “with sincere regret.”

The company, which is set to resume service in southwestern Ontario and between Ottawa and Quebec City on Thursday, has cancelled more than 530 trains since blockades began on Feb. 6.

Earlier this week, Canadian National Railway Co. laid off about 450 workers in its operations in Eastern Canada after cancelling more than 400 trains in the past week over a rail blockade protesting an LNG pipeline in British Columbia.

VIA Rail says it is temporarily laying off close to 1000 employees in response to nationwide blockades erected in opposition to a British Columbia pipeline project.

“Starting today, close to 1000 VIA Rail employees will receive a notice regarding this matter,” the company said in a release.

On Tuesday night, VIA Rail announced that service in southwestern Ontario would resume on Thursday morning, but a large part of its network remains closed.

“This general interruption is an unprecedented situation in our history,” VIA Rail President and Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Garneau said. “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.

Hereditary chiefs in the Wet’suwet’en First Nation oppose the natural-gas pipeline through their traditional territory, though it’s received approval from elected band councils.

Since the RCMP moved in to enforce an injunction and keep the hereditary chiefs and their supporters away from the pipeline worksites, protests by Indigenous people and supporters have shut down the CN rail network in eastern Canada, suspended most Via Rail passenger service, and temporarily blocked traffic on streets and bridges and at ports in multiple cities.

On Tuesday night, CN Rail said it was temporarily laying off around 450 of its employees in response to the protests.

“This situation is regrettable for its impact on the economy and on our railroaders as these protests are unrelated to CN’s activities, and beyond our control,” CN Rail said.

Companies in this story: (TSX:CNR)