CN Claims Railway Merger Will Create Jobs

Speaking in Winnipeg recently, Paul Tellier, Chairman of Canadian National Railways, stated that railway workers should welcome the proposed merger between CN and the U.S. railway giant, Burlington Northern. He claimed that the merger would lead to the creation of a large number of high-paying jobs at CN's Winnipeg maintenance facilities. During the past decade the level of employment in those facilities has dropped from over 5,000 to less than 1,000 employees. Last year CN announced that it would be closing its wheel shop in Winnipeg and expanding its facilities in Edmonton and Toronto, where the bulk of CN's traffic is.

One of the main reasons that companies give to justify the current merger mania sweeping the globe is to increase efficiencies by reducing redundancies, which translates into the elimination of jobs and rationalization of facilities. Any increase in the number of jobs in one area is generally more than offset by the elimination of jobs in other areas. Mr. Tellier did not explain why the CN-Burlington Northern merger should be any different, nor when the creation of jobs became CN's main priority.