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The Greenbrier Cos. subsidiary TrentonWorks Ltd. recently agreed to remove all security cameras from its Trenton, Nova Scotia, rail-car plant.


Five hundred United Steelworkers of America Local 1231 members last month walked off the job after TrentonWorks installed the cameras, which company officials believed would help prevent vandalism.


"We have agreed to a letter that states both the union and company will
not tolerate vandalism on the property," said Local 1231 President Don Murphy in a prepared statement. "[But] the level of vandalism that is alleged to have occurred is minor compared to the violation of our members' right to dignity on the job."


Union officials believe the cameras violated fundamental human rights because workers were under constant surveillance.


"Spy cameras in workplaces are the kind of thing that appalls Canadians
when they hear about it in third-world sweatshops," said Murphy.