Railways' employee surveillance plan raises privacy issues
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Video and voice recorders will be installed on national railways at a price tag of close to $79 million, says the department of transport.
Within two years, Parliament has mandated high-grade recorders be installed in all locomotive cabs.
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Per Blacklock’s Reporter, the department in a regulatory notice said cameras will watch whether crews are sleeping, using cellphones, reading or “using intoxicants or impairing drugs” on the job or “not verbally communicating in a clear and audible manner information they are required to verbally communicate.”
In 2018, Parliament passed an act to exempt train crews from federal privacy laws with the installation of recorders at a cost of $76.8 million, a measure endorsed by railways.
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Unions and legislators, including Conservative and Liberal appointees in the Senate, opposed it as an unprecedented step in workplace surveillance.
The regulations come into effect Sept. 2, 2022.
“This is an egregious violation of workers’ rights,” said Senator Frances Lankin (Ont).
“We have seen over the decades a slow encroachment on workers’ privacy. This is one of the most blatant examples that takes it to a new level.”
Added Senator Michael MacDonald (N.S.): “I think it is a huge breach of privacy. How many intrusions do you make into the Privacy Act to the point where it becomes meaningless, where you have no Privacy Act? We have to draw the line somewhere and I’m very strongly of the opinion that we have to draw the line on this.”
Randomly-viewed recordings, according to the bill, will be permissible.
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At a 2018 Senate transport committee hearing, union executives testified that recordings should only be used by federal safety investigators.
Unifor national rail director Bruce Snow described a locomotive as a “10 by 10-foot workspace” used by crew as a lunchroom and change room on long shifts.
“The camera is in their face,” he said.
“All the dialogue, all the engagement between employees for 12, 14, 16 hours a day is being recorded. Nothing is sacred.”
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the department has acknowledged it had no data on whether recorders would prevent rail accidents.
“It is not possible to predict the future safety measures that could be developed by reviewing locomotive voice and video recordings and it would not be appropriate to assume what kind of impact they might have,” wrote staff.
“There is a lack of research.”
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