Year: 2008

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By Bonnie Morr
Alternate Vice President, Bus

When operating a motor coach — whether carrying students, commuters, tourists or the handicapped – whenever we open the door, we are exposed to assaults.

We are vulnerable to what we do see, and what we cannot see, such as the sneezing, wheezing and coughing passengers spreading illness.

Many of us are versed in “talking down” aggressive and sometimes out-of-control passengers. The federal government and states are toughening penalties for violent acts against transportation workers, and many employers are taking additional steps to protect bus operators, such as by installing video cameras in terminals and on buses.

On page 11 of this issue, our union’s medical consultant, Dr. Norman Brown, explains how to protect ourselves against one dangerous micro-organism called MRSA.

A benefit of being a union member is that from the local level to the International, we have qualified officers and staff working each day to help improve workplace safety. For example, to the right of this column is an article and photo showing the success of the UTU in having notices posted in Coach USA buses in New Jersey warning of severe penalties for assaulting bus operators.

If you have ideas about further protecting the safety and health of bus operators, share them with your local officers, and also with Bus Department Vice President Vic Baffoni at the UTU International in Cleveland, whose e-mail address is v_baffoni@utu.org.

By Mike Futhey
International President

We have been receiving numerous reports of members disciplined following an on-the-job injury. Too often, the injury was the result of a carrier’s failure to correct its own safety hazard or safety violation.

But if there is no paper trail of the safety hazard or carrier safety violation prior to the injury, the injured employee can end up becoming a victim for a second time through discipline.

How do you keep from becoming a victim twice? You write a detailed letter to the carrier describing every safety hazard and every violation of FRA safety regulations encountered – but you must also provide a copy of that letter to your local legislative representative and your state legislative director.

By so doing, you have created a paper trail, preventing the carrier from later disavowing knowledge of the safety hazard or safety violation.

Beyond protecting yourself against arbitrary carrier discipline following an injury, here are three other reasons why you should write that detailed letter:

  • The Federal Railroad Administration has a limited number of safety inspectors. They cannot, on their own, find every carrier safety violation. When state legislative directors receive copies of your letter to the carrier, they can refer those safety violations to the appropriate FRA official. By collecting those letters, state legislative directors can also identify multiple violations that should be reported to the national legislative office for handling at the highest levels of the FRA.
  • State legislative directors work with lawmakers at the state and federal level to craft legislation leading to new and improved safety regulations. In Illinois, for example, State Legislative Director Joe Szabo convinced the legislature to pass a rail-safety bill based on evidence presented by UTU members about safety hazards. The current federal rail safety bill being considered by Congress includes provisions that would not have been embraced by lawmakers were it not for written evidence provided by UTU members.
  • When employees are injured, and they seek recovery under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, it is not uncommon for the carrier to deny knowledge of the safety hazard or its own violation of safety regulations. But when local legislative representatives and state legislative directors can provide UTU Designated Legal Counsel with copies of such letters, your legal case is strengthened.

Simply calling a carrier’s safety hotline is not enough to protect you, your family or your brothers and sisters from carrier safety hazards and safety violations. Those telephone calls go only to the carrier, which may or may not correct the situation.

Only when your local legislative representative and state legislative director receive your letter can they help you take action to correct the problem and make the workplace safer. If you need help writing the letter, ask your local legislative representative or state legislative director for that help.

Don’t become a victim twice. Write that letter and make sure a copy goes to your local legislative representative and your state legislative director.

Brothers and Sisters:

In a few weeks, the tentative national rail agreement with the major carriers on wages, rules and working conditions will be distributed to affected members for a ratification vote.

The negotiating committee recommends a “yes” vote, and on March 25 — before the mailing of the agreement — general chairpersons representing members on the major carriers will be given a briefing on details of the agreement and asked to provide their support. We also intend to hold briefing sessions around the nation to which members will be invited to participate.

Some members have sent e-mails and letters, and made telephone calls, to the International office expressing displeasure that the tentative agreement doesn’t provide “enough,” and that it should be rejected, and the negotiating committee instructed to go back to the bargaining table to demand more.

We firmly believe that this contract should be ratified on its merits, and in the coming weeks we will make that case to general chairpersons and the membership.

And while we neither wish nor intend to seek “yes” votes based on fear, there are certain facts members should consider carefully before choosing to vote against the agreement.

Railroad industry labor relations are governed by the Railway Labor Act, which provides that rail industry contracts never expire, but continue in force until a new contract is ratified by the membership, or imposed on the parties by Congress.

And therein lays the danger of rejecting this contract.

When the UTU negotiating team reached its tentative agreement with the carriers in late January, other rail labor organizations already had ratified new agreements — a so-called pattern settlement. Pattern settlements historically establish a ceiling that has rarely been busted, owing to the mechanisms of the Railway Labor Act.

The UTU, in its tentative agreement, was able to better the pattern in several areas because the carriers were anxious to put this round of bargaining behind them and avoid the delay and cost that typically involves creation of a Presidential Emergency Board and congressional action.

What the UTU gained over the other organizations includes arbitration to settle the dispute over entry rates tied to training, contributions to the yardmasters’ supplemental retiree medical insurance program, continuation of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) during the next round of bargaining, and an increase in the meal allowance.

More information on these provisions can be found at www.utu.org by clicking on the “Rail Contract Negotiations” link.

Otherwise, the UTU agreement mirrors the pattern settlement achieved by the carriers with the other organizations.

In the past, after a pattern was established and one or more unions rejected the pattern already established, the carriers refused to budge; and, under provisions of the Railway Labor Act, the stage was set for binding arbitration or creation of a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB).

Binding arbitration is a “roll-the-dice” game, because that allows a third party to impose an agreement without a ratification vote by the membership. Moreover, binding arbitration almost always results in the imposition of the pattern settlement, meaning arbitrators likely would reject the pattern-busting additions the UTU negotiating team achieved.

If binding arbitration is rejected, we can expect creation of a PEB by late spring — appointed solely by President Bush. We would not expect any labor friendly members on that PEB. Those recommendations likely would also mirror the pattern settlement.

Yes, we could strike rather than accept those recommendations, but the congressional leadership, which includes labor’s friends in Congress, has made clear to us that Congress does not want a railroad strike, with its devastating effects on an already weakened economy.

This would mean immediate congressional action to halt a work-stoppage; and given that we have already been warned by our labor-friendly friends in Congress that they do not want a railroad work-stoppage, the writing is on the table that Congress would quickly impose the recommendations of a PEB. Congress likely would be acting in a fit of anger against the UTU, and the outcome could be even worse than the recommendations of a PEB.

Those are the facts, whether we like them or not. And those facts should be considered very carefully when this tentative agreement is sent to you for ratification.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org

Brothers and Sisters:

In a few weeks, the tentative national rail agreement with the major carriers on wages, rules and working conditions will be distributed to affected members for a ratification vote.

The negotiating committee recommends a “yes” vote, and on March 25 — before the mailing of the agreement — general chairpersons representing members on the major carriers will be given a briefing on details of the agreement and asked to provide their support. We also intend to hold briefing sessions around the nation to which members will be invited to participate.

Some members have sent e-mails and letters, and made telephone calls, to the International office expressing displeasure that the tentative agreement doesn’t provide “enough,” and that it should be rejected, and the negotiating committee instructed to go back to the bargaining table to demand more.

We firmly believe that this contract should be ratified on its merits, and in the coming weeks we will make that case to general chairpersons and the membership.

And while we neither wish nor intend to seek “yes” votes based on fear, there are certain facts members should consider carefully before choosing to vote against the agreement.

Railroad industry labor relations are governed by the Railway Labor Act, which provides that rail industry contracts never expire, but continue in force until a new contract is ratified by the membership, or imposed on the parties by Congress.

And therein lays the danger of rejecting this contract.

When the UTU negotiating team reached its tentative agreement with the carriers in late January, other rail labor organizations already had ratified new agreements — a so-called pattern settlement. Pattern settlements historically establish a ceiling that has rarely been busted, owing to the mechanisms of the Railway Labor Act.

The UTU, in its tentative agreement, was able to better the pattern in several areas because the carriers were anxious to put this round of bargaining behind them and avoid the delay and cost that typically involves creation of a Presidential Emergency Board and congressional action.

What the UTU gained over the other organizations includes arbitration to settle the dispute over entry rates tied to training, contributions to the yardmasters’ supplemental retiree medical insurance program, continuation of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) during the next round of bargaining, and an increase in the meal allowance.

More information on these provisions can be found at www.utu.org by clicking on the “Rail Contract Negotiations” link.

Otherwise, the UTU agreement mirrors the pattern settlement achieved by the carriers with the other organizations.

In the past, after a pattern was established and one or more unions rejected the pattern already established, the carriers refused to budge; and, under provisions of the Railway Labor Act, the stage was set for binding arbitration or creation of a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB).

Binding arbitration is a “roll-the-dice” game, because that allows a third party to impose an agreement without a ratification vote by the membership. Moreover, binding arbitration almost always results in the imposition of the pattern settlement, meaning arbitrators likely would reject the pattern-busting additions the UTU negotiating team achieved.

If binding arbitration is rejected, we can expect creation of a PEB by late spring — appointed solely by President Bush. We would not expect any labor friendly members on that PEB. Those recommendations likely would also mirror the pattern settlement.

Yes, we could strike rather than accept those recommendations, but the congressional leadership, which includes labor’s friends in Congress, has made clear to us that Congress does not want a railroad strike, with its devastating effects on an already weakened economy.

This would mean immediate congressional action to halt a work-stoppage; and given that we have already been warned by our labor-friendly friends in Congress that they do not want a railroad work-stoppage, the writing is on the table that Congress would quickly impose the recommendations of a PEB. Congress likely would be acting in a fit of anger against the UTU, and the outcome could be even worse than the recommendations of a PEB.

Those are the facts, whether we like them or not. And those facts should be considered very carefully when this tentative agreement is sent to you for ratification.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org

By Norman K. Brown, M.D.,
UTU medical consultant
Please wash your hands. Micro-organisms – bacteria, viruses, yeasts – are all around us. Bacteria live especially closely with us, most often in a friendly manner, in the nose, mouth, lower intestine, genitals, on the skin, and in many healthy foods, such as yogurt.
We, in fact, need these friendly bacteria.
However, in recent years, the most common bacteria on our skin – staphylococcus, or staph, for short — has developed a strain that is resistant to the penicillin-type antibiotics.
This “methicillin resistant staph aureus,” so called MRSA, not only resists good antibiotics, but also tends to be a nasty organism when it invades one of us deeper than the skin surface.
Infections with MRSA are usually spread when MRSA starts growing in a break in your skin. Since MRSA in small numbers are just resting on the skins of many of us, they are nowadays very often the first invaders to take advantage of a break in your skin, such as after a cut, a pimple or an insect bite.
Trouble does not usually show up immediately. So any time that a break in your skin heals too slowly, or becomes red, swollen or painful — say two to three days later — be suspicious of infection and consult with your doctor for recommendations and treatment promptly.
But even before you get such an infection, let’s think about simple ways to head it off in the first place.
When you have been exposed to possibly bacteria-laden materials, such as a scab or pus from somebody else, or maybe a boil, a soiled bandage, mucus from the nose or coughed out, or any portions of a bowel movement, please clean your skin as soon as you can.
I am told that alcohol wipes may be the only method available for bus and train operators — and they do the job; so think of them as equivalent to, “Please, wash your hands.”
Soap and warm water are better, in my opinion, when available. By the way, there is good evidence that a few bacteria, even MRSA, on our skin is normal and healthy; but large numbers — usually from someone else’s infection — can be the problem.
So, reasonably clean skin, not forever sterile, is the goal.
Keeping our hands clean enough to be comfortable eating with them at any time will go a long way toward preventing MRSA infections.
MRSA is not thought to move through the air, but rather gets transferred around with our own hands, on the skin. So as you work through your day, try to avoid touching materials that may be contaminated with MRSA in the first place — even on your own body. But if you do have to handle them, remember what mom said: “Wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap.”

By Vic Baffoni
Vice President, Bus Department

Negotiations for improved wages, benefits and working conditions are Bus Department priorities in 2008.

Negotiations are underway in Locals 710 (Newark, N.J.), 1589 (New Brunswick, N.J.) and 1670 (Laredo, Texas).

Agreements held by six other locals expire this year: Local 1582 (Albany, N.Y.) in April; Locals 172 (Darby, Pa.), 1741 (San Francisco), and 1785 (Santa Monica, Calif.) in June; Local 23 (Santa Cruz, Calif.) in September; and Local 1596 (Charlotte, N.C.) in December.

In all cases, we seek affordable health-care benefits and preservation of work rules. Also important is protection from layoffs and contracting out.

The UTU International will be assisting, as requested. The sooner we start working in unison on these issues of crucial importance, the sooner management will recognize and respect the unity and determination of the UTU to negotiate equitable agreements on behalf of its members.

We received a letter from Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom the UTU supports for president, asking that our bus members note the following:

If elected president, she promises:

  • To preserve labor protection for all federally funded transit programs;
  • To push for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, ensuring workers have a fair chance to join a labor union;
  • To expand access to paid leave, permitting workers a better balance of work and family commitments. 

Local treasurers and other officers should be aware that all UTU locals are now required to file Internal Revenue Service Form 990 for fiscal year 2007.

The form must be filed no later than May 15, 2008.

Previously, locals that ordinarily received less than $25,000 in adjusted receipts did not have to file the form unless they received the form from the IRS.

There are three different versions of Form 990. Locals that have adjusted receipts greater than $100,000 are required to complete and file IRS Form 990.

Locals that have adjusted receipts ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 must complete and file Form 990-EZ.

Locals with adjusted receipts of less than $25,000 should file Form 990-N. The form must be filed electronically. There will be no paper form. To file Form 990-N, click here.

Form 990-N seeks the following information:

  • The legal name of the organization;
  • Any name under which the organization operates or does business;
  • The organization’s mailing address and its Internet Web site address (if any);
  • The organization’s taxpayer identification number;
  • The name and address of a principal officer; and,
  • Evidence of the continuing basis for the organization’s exemption from the filing requirements under section 6033(a)(1).

Form 990-N has just been made available by the IRS. Like Form 990, the 990-N will be due no later than the 15th day of the fifth month after the end of an organization’s tax year.

Although there is no monetary penalty for failing to file the e-postcard, organizations that do not file for three years in a row will have their tax-exempt status revoked. To be reinstated, an organization will have to file a new exemption application and pay the applicable user fee.

Congress imposed this new requirement because of concerns that small organizations, that have had no annual filing requirement in the past, have not kept the IRS up-to-date on address and other changes.

Brothers and Sisters:

The UTU Discipline Income Protection Plan (DIPP) has remained steadfast in looking for ways to pay claims of participants. By contrast, other job benefit plans are looking for ways to AVOID paying claims.

A pattern of harsh discipline imposed by the carriers — resulting in a significant and steady drain on assets as benefits are paid out — has drawn considerable reserves from the DIPP fund.

To adequately maintain this valuable service to UTU members — and ensure the DIPP’s survival — the UTU scheduled adjustments to premiums and benefits to become effective, March 1, 2008. However, the adjustments, which were published in the December-January issue of the UTU News, have drawn numerous comments from DIPP participants — and those comments have been heard.

We have no choice but to impose the premium increase on the scheduled date of March 1.

However, additional changes, which were to include a 15-day elimination period, a 20 percent reduction for a second claim within 12 months, recovery of benefits from a favorable discipline appeal, duration of coverage-period application, and the benefit reduction schedule have been put on hold.

The UTU will continue to monitor and review the DIPP fund, and may implement change in the future, as deemed necessary.

The DIPP fund is much like Railroad Retirement, in that it is a pooled-risk fund whose financial survival depends on a broad base of participants making contributions in order that benefits are available for payment.

In short, if the DIPP fund is to continue to be offered as a service to UTU members, then UTU members must participate in large numbers. We therefore ask all participants to continue their membership in the DIPP fund, and to encourage your brothers and sisters to participate, also.

There is strength in numbers, and the continuation of this beneficial DIPP program depends upon everyone’s support.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org

Brothers and Sisters:

The UTU Discipline Income Protection Plan (DIPP) has remained steadfast in looking for ways to pay claims of participants. By contrast, other job benefit plans are looking for ways to AVOID paying claims.

A pattern of harsh discipline imposed by the carriers — resulting in a significant and steady drain on assets as benefits are paid out — has drawn considerable reserves from the DIPP fund.

To adequately maintain this valuable service to UTU members — and ensure the DIPP’s survival — the UTU scheduled adjustments to premiums and benefits to become effective, March 1, 2008. However, the adjustments, which were published in the December-January issue of the UTU News, have drawn numerous comments from DIPP participants — and those comments have been heard.

We have no choice but to impose the premium increase on the scheduled date of March 1.

However, additional changes, which were to include a 15-day elimination period, a 20 percent reduction for a second claim within 12 months, recovery of benefits from a favorable discipline appeal, duration of coverage-period application, and the benefit reduction schedule have been put on hold.

The UTU will continue to monitor and review the DIPP fund, and may implement change in the future, as deemed necessary.

The DIPP fund is much like Railroad Retirement, in that it is a pooled-risk fund whose financial survival depends on a broad base of participants making contributions in order that benefits are available for payment.

In short, if the DIPP fund is to continue to be offered as a service to UTU members, then UTU members must participate in large numbers. We therefore ask all participants to continue their membership in the DIPP fund, and to encourage your brothers and sisters to participate, also.

There is strength in numbers, and the continuation of this beneficial DIPP program depends upon everyone’s support.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org

By Mike Futhey
UTU International President

Brothers and Sisters:

The tentative national agreement with BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific, which you will vote on soon, was hammered out in an intense two-day bargaining session Jan. 22-23 because the carriers recognized the unity the UTU brought to the negotiating table.

Equally important to the process was our return to interest-based bargaining, whereby both sides choose mutual problem solving to confrontation.

A year had gone by without a single meeting between the two sides, and the situation looked bleak. There were credible signals from the carriers that they intended to cash-in their Bush administration IOUs and move for a presidential emergency board (PEB) by spring. After all, the carriers had established a pattern, holding ratified agreements from most of the other labor organizations.

The carriers reasoned they could count on a carrier-friendly PEB to recommend that the pattern be forced on us. In an election year, with Congress not wanting a rail strike dumped in its lap, the odds were similarly high that lawmakers would quickly pass legislation ordering us back to work under the precise recommendations of the Bush-appointed PEB.

With that unhappy chain of events looming, I met with CSX CEO Michael Ward and made clear that the UTU’s intent was to craft a win-win agreement. We both agreed that a mutually negotiated settlement is preferable to one imposed by a third party – even if the carriers thought the White House is on their side. I asked Mr. Ward to relay our message to the other CEOs and the industry’s labor negotiators.

Our bargaining team reaffirmed our intent to reach a negotiated settlement when we sat down Jan. 22 with the carriers’ chief labor negotiators in Jacksonville, Fla. We were told that they and their CEOs had been reading our leadership messages on the UTU Web site, and sensed a more positive approach from the UTU — and they were prepared to respond in kind.

Before the sun set on the second day, we had that win-win agreement. The carriers acknowledged that prolonged warfare in Congress and before the federal courts was counterproductive.

The carriers agreed to go beyond the pattern. They offered the UTU — and only the UTU — a continuation of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) during the period new agreements are being negotiated. The UTU also was the only union to achieve, in national negotiations, an increase in the meal allowance.

Also, the carriers agreed to provide full health-care insurance to new hires and their families after only one month, rather than four; and agreed to arbitrate the dispute over entry rates tied to training; and, for the first time, to make contributions to the yardmasters’ supplemental retiree medical insurance program.

We busted the pattern. But if we fail to ratify this agreement, we could lose it all — and more, because a PEB and Congress could embrace the carriers’ desire for one-person crews and elimination of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA).

In the days ahead, we will be providing much more information on the tentative agreement, including answers to questions posed by general chairpersons. Please, stay informed. This agreement deserves ratification. The alternative is unthinkable.