The other side of Hunter Harrison’s CP legacy: white-collar workers driving trains

CSX may finally have announced the appointment of Hunter Harrison as its new chief executive, but workers at the US rail carrier may wish to take heed of this piece from the Financial Post. Mr Harrison’s business tactics have garnered significant praise from investors, with him labelled the “turnaround king”. However, for former employees and union representatives, Mr Harrison’s “precision railroading” operating method is merely a buzzword for sweeping job cuts – under Mr Harrison Canadian Pacific (CP) cut 40% of its workforce – that threaten safety standards. President of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Doug Finnson claims that under Mr Harrison, white collar workers at CP were “hauled” from their desks to step in as conductors and engineers with “little training”. At one point, he alleges, 60 managers were sent to Vancouver to operate trains because the carrier did not have enough workers to meet demand. One labour lawyer described the practice as “very unusual, I’ve never seen anything like this before”.