Year: 2009

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The UTU national rail contract negotiating team has been named by UTU International President Mike Futhey, who will serve as the UTU’s chief negotiator.

Other members of this bargaining round’s negotiating committee include Assistant President Arty Martin; International Vice Presidents Robert Kerley and Delbert Strunk; General Chairpersons John Lesniewski (GO 049), Pate King (GO 680) and Doyle Turner (GO 347); and UTU General Counsel Clint Miller.

Futhey headed the UTU bargaining team that negotiated the most recent member-ratified amendments to the existing national agreement.

The national rail contract between the UTU and railroads represented by the National Carriers’ Conference Committee becomes amendable Jan. 1. Both sides exchanged desired amendments affecting rates of pay, rules and working conditions on Nov. 2.

Railroads represented by the National Carriers’ Conference Committee include BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Soo Line, Union Pacific and numerous smaller carriers.

Some 40,000 UTU members are affected by these negotiations, and the resulting amendments frequently set patterns for other negotiated rail agreements.

The existing national contract will remain in force until negotiated amendments are ratified by UTU members under the craft autonomy provisions of the UTU Constitution. Negotiations are governed by provisions of the Railway Labor Act.

Earlier in December, carriers withdrew one of their demands, entitled “Staffing and Consolidation,” in exchange for the UTU withdrawing a lawsuit alleging that demand was inappropriate for national handling.

The UTU interpreted that carrier demand as seeking one-person crew operations. A federal court had ruled in March 2006 — during the previous round of national negotiations — that the UTU had no obligation to bargain nationally over a carrier demand to eliminate conductor and brakemen positions on all through-freight trains.

To keep current on this round of national handling, stay tuned to our website www.utu.org.

A month after the UTU filed a lawsuit in federal court to block a railroad demand to bargain over “staffing and consolidation,” the carriers have withdrawn that demand from their Railway Labor Act Section 6 notices.

In a letter to UTU International President Mike Futhey, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), which represents most major railroads in national contract negotiations, said it “will withdraw, without prejudice, the proposal set forth in the paragraph entitled ‘Staffing and Consolidation'” in exchange for the UTU dismissing, “without prejudice,” its lawsuit.

“These undertakings,” said the NCCC, “are made in connection with each party’s desire to facilitate pursuit of a successful resolution of the 2010 bargaining round without further litigation and are without prejudice to their respective positions.”

The UTU interpreted the demand regarding “Staffing and Consolidation” as a renewed attempt by the carriers to seek one-person crew operations. A federal court had ruled in March 2006 — during the previous round of national negotiations — that the UTU had no obligation to bargain nationally over a carrier demand to eliminate conductor and brakemen positions on all through-freight trains.

The UTU position– then, and now — is that existing agreements relating to minimum train crew size are negotiated on a railroad-by-railroad basis through UTU general committees of adjustment, and any attempt by the carriers to change those agreements must be handled at the general committee level and not in so-called national handling where the major railroads coordinate their bargaining through the NCCC.

The agreement by the NCCC to withdraw its “Staffing and Consolidation” demand — in exchange for the UTU withdrawing its court action — followed a meeting between Futhey and the NCCC’s chief negotiator, Ken Gradia, on Dec. 8.

Said the NCCC in its letter to Futhey withdrawing the demand, “During our Dec. 8, 2009, initial conference on our respective Section 6 proposals for the 2010 bargaining round, we had a candid discussion about the parties’ respective concerns and goals.

“In the course of that exchange, we affirmed our shared conviction that voluntary agreements are always in the parties’ best interests and our joint desire to facilitate and encourage the exploration of opportunities for mutually beneficial solutions to each side’s needs without restraint. In particular, we discussed the benefits to both parties of eliminating potential impediments to successful negotiations where feasible,” said the NCCC.

To keep current on this round of national handling, click on the “National Rail Contract” link at www.utu.org.

The 24 days between Dec. 22 and Jan. 14 have proven the most deadly for railroad workers. More fatalities and career-ending injuries occur during this calendar period than any other.

With the holiday season upon us, we owe it to ourselves and our families to keep the season joyous and free from needless sorrow. Safety is a gift we keep giving our families.

Returning home to our families in one piece requires more than simply saying, “Be careful out there.”

Since 1998, the Switching Operations Fatalities Analysis (SOFA) working group — comprised of representatives from labor, management and the FRA — has devoted itself to bringing railroaders home to their families in one piece.

SOFA’s five lifesaving tips can save yours, as they have saved countless other railroaders from death and career-ending injuries:

  1. Secure all equipment before action is taken.
  2. Protect employees against moving equipment.
  3. Discuss safety at the beginning of a job or when work changes.
  4. Communicate before action is taken.
  5. Mentor less experienced employees to perform service safely.

The SOFA working group also warns of special switching hazards:

  • Close clearances
  • Shoving movements
  • Unsecured cars
  • Free rolling rail cars
  • Exposure to mainline trains
  • Tripping, slipping or falling
  • Unexpected movement of cars
  • Adverse environmental conditions
  • Equipment defects
  • Motor vehicles or loading devices
  • Drugs and alcohol

UTU members participating in the SOFA working group are Louisiana State Legislative Director Gary Devall, Minnesota State Legislative Director Phil Qualy and Kansas Assistant State Legislative Director Ty Dragoo.

In the 17 years since 1992, only four have been fatality free, and almost 12 percent of all on-duty employee fatalities have occurred during the 24 days between Dec. 22 and Jan. 14.

Staying vigilant and heightening your situational awareness — by following the SOFA working groups life-saving tips, by being aware of special switching hazards, and by encouraging increased communication among crew members, limiting task overload and focusing on the task at hand — is the most effective way to return home to your families in one piece.

And remember: almost as many injuries and deaths involve employees with many years of seniority as new hires.

Let’s not permit ourselves to drift into mental vacations. As the SOFA working group says, warnings “can be viewed as numbers on a page, but the loss of a railroad employee is real, and brings sadness to their family, co-employees and friends.”

The UTU Rail Safety Task Force extends a happy holiday greeting to all members and their families.

For more information on the UTU Rail Safety Task Force, and to communicate with the task force, click below:

http://utu.org/utu-rail-safety-task-force/

In solidarity,

UTU Rail Safety Task Force

Greg Hynes, UTU Arizona state legislative director

Steve Evans, UTU Arkansas state legislative director

Jerry Gibson, UTU Michigan state legislative director

By UTU International President Mike Futhey

As we begin this new round of bargaining with the railroads to amend our national rail contract, I am optimistic we will reach an equitable outcome — an agreement that benefits both parties.

The carriers and their contract employees cannot thrive without each other, meaning it is in both parties’ interest to jointly and harmoniously produce an outcome assuring competitive, world-class and safe railroads as well as a just wage, benefit and rules package.

Of course, there will be difficult issues to address along the way. The carriers are tough negotiators, as are we. To understand those difficult issues, I urge you to visit our UTU Web site at www.utu.org, and click on the “National Rail Contract” link, where you may read the UTU’s desired amendments as well as those of the carriers.

As difficult as these negotiations may be, I am confident the carriers share our view that it is not in the interests of either side to have a third party decide our contract terms. A voluntarily reached agreement is in both parties’ best interest.

Our negotiating committee, which is in the process of being selected, will have a single objective at each negotiating session: to produce a tentative agreement acceptable to our general chairpersons and our membership.

As is our proud and cherished guarantee under the UTU Constitution – a guarantee I will never surrender – each craft will exercise its autonomy in choosing whether to ratify the tentative agreement.

For benefit of our newer rail members, it is important to understand that under the Railway Labor Act, there is no contract expiration date, and the right to engage in self-help (strikes, lockouts and arbitrary management changes to contracts) is severely restricted. Our contract continues until amended.

Although we hope contract amendments can be negotiated quickly, there is no time limit on Railway Labor Act negotiated agreements. Thus it is also important to recognize that only the UTU contract provides that during contract negotiations, the carriers must pay twice yearly cost-of-living adjustments – payments that protect against inflation – beginning Jan. 1, 2011.

As the collective bargaining process moves forward, I pledge we will update the membership on a timely basis through postings at www.utu.org.

UTU members and their dependents insured under the Railroad Employees National Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit (ERMA) Plan (GA-46000) will have their lifetime maximum amount of coverage increase effective Jan. 1.

ERMA is a comprehensive benefits plan for employees who retire at or after age 60 with 30 years of service. The plan covers qualified employees, spouses and dependents until the employee reaches age 65. Once the employee qualifies for Medicare or attains age 65, ERMA no longer covers the employee or dependents.

The maximum will increase $5,900 over the current $113,000 for a new maximum of $118,900.

The formula for increasing the lifetime maximum under ERMA was agreed upon by labor and management in 2001. The new lifetime maximum was derived by utilizing the October 2009 Consumer Price Index data for hospital and related services and physician services.

For individuals who have reached the lifetime maximum, the incremental maximum available is applied to eligible expenses submitted for dates of service on or after Jan. 1, the effective date of the new maximum.

By Richard Deiser
Vice president and director, Bus Dept.

One of the most important issues facing the motor carrier industry is distracted driving.

Safe driving requires total concentration — not just on our own part, as we must also worry about other drivers not paying attention to what they are doing.

In fact, distraction can occur also in the locomotive cab and on the airplane flight deck.

As I write this column, the hot topic in the media is the airline crew that overflew their destination by over an hour. At first it was alleged that the captain and first officer were asleep. But, they later said they were using their laptops in an attempt to figure out the new method of crew scheduling.

The flight crew apparently was paying so little attention that they may as well have been asleep. There have been incidents causing death and injuries on the rails as well, such as when the locomotive engineer of a commuter train was on a cell phone and failed to see a signal.

In the past few months, there have been numerous bus accidents when either the operator or the other motorist was on a cell phone. The majority of states have now passed legislation barring the use of hand-held phones while driving. Massachusetts has gone so far as to ban any and all electronic device use by bus operators.

However, in an emergency, cell phones and communication devices can be useful, and even aid in assuring the safety of passengers.

We will be carefully monitoring legislation and policies affecting our membership and others engaged in providing transportation. In the interim, be safe and use common sense in the use of any communication device, whether personal or company provided.

The UTU has selected Lincoln National Life Insurance Co., a member of the Lincoln Financial Group, to provide a national group voluntary short-term disability plan for all bus members.

Coverage is for off-duty accidents and illness, and is automatic unless bus members opt out.

The Lincoln National Life disability insurance plan provides a basic “safety net” of coverage for UTU bus members, and is designed to work in combination with state-mandated disability programs.

The Lincoln National Life plan pays up to $200 per week for up to 52 weeks a year, and provides coverage for off-the-job accidents and sickness.

The cost is $26.50 per month, and is collected through payroll deduction.

New UTU members will be enrolled automatically, unless they choose to opt-out of the plan by submitting a waiver form to the UTU International.

A disability-plan membership information kit will be mailed to all new members and will include a plan overview, as well as instructions for waiving coverage (opting-out of the plan) if they so choose.

Any member waiving coverage who desires to obtain coverage under the plan in the future, must make application to Lincoln at that later date. There will be no guarantee of acceptance.

Once enrolled, everyone is subject to a so-called 3/6 pre-existing condition provision. This provision excludes, for the first six months that a member is covered, any disability claims relating to treatment, diagnoses or existing condition that existed in the three months just prior to the enrollment date.

After the first six months that an enrollee is covered, the pre-existing condition limitation expires.

The member information kit describes the plan in greater detail, and also provides answers to frequently asked questions. Members are not required to complete any paperwork to enroll in the plan, but must complete a waiver form if they choose not to participate.

Members desiring additional disability insurance coverage may purchase an individual policy through the UTU Insurance Association. This individual coverage would pay in addition to the Lincoln plan, without any offset or reduction in benefits to either plan. Contact your Field Supervisor or call the UTUIA Sales Department at (216) 228-9400 for more information.

A confidential close call reporting system pilot project is up and running systemwide on New Jersey Transit, with the UTU, American Train Dispatchers Association and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen participating.

This is the first pilot project involving a passenger operation. NJT operates 794 commuter trains each weekday. The project does not apply to NJT trains operating over Amtrak and Conrail lines.

UTU members participating include more than 1,200 conductors, assistant conductors and yardmasters.

Sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration, and administered by DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (for the purpose of compiling data), the project permits an employee to make a confidential report of safety concerns, and even violations of operating rules, while receiving immunity from sanction by the employer and the FRA.

The object is for otherwise unreported or underreported information on unsafe events to be made available for study by an on-property peer review team of labor, management and FRA representatives.

The analysis of this data will then be used to recommend corrective action, which might include new or improved training methods, changes in the physical plant, changes in existing federal safety laws or regulations, or changes in carrier operating rules.

“The involved labor organizations, NJT and U.S. DOT agencies worked closely to forge a quality memorandum of understanding to ensure the program will work on this property,” said UTU General Chairperson (NJT Local 60) Pat Reilly. “We all worked together with one goal in mind: a safer workplace.”

Reilly, a former accident investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board and also a former FRA safety inspector, said the project is “the best I have ever seen in my 38-year railroad career. I believe this project will identify and correct potential problems before they turn into major problems or possible accidents.”

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics ensures that the identity of those reporting close calls, as part of the project, remains confidential, including any information as to date or location of the event that could otherwise lead to identification of employees making the report.

The bureau operates under a federal statute that assures protection of the accumulated data from legal discovery, freedom of information requests, and even demands by other federal agencies to view the data.

A close call is defined by the FRA as “a situation in which an ongoing sequence of events was stopped from developing further, preventing the occurrence of potentially serious safety-related consequences. Personal injuries and/or reportable train accidents of any kind do not fall in the category of a close call.”

Examples of close calls include running through a yard switch that does not result in a train accident, improper blocking, and a train in non-signal territory that proceeds beyond its authority.

The UTU is participating in similar pilot projects already in place on Union Pacific in North Platte, Neb., and Canadian Pacific in Portage, Wisc. The UP project is in its third year, and the CP project is in its second year.

UTU engineer members covered for employee and/or dependent health care under the Railroad Employees’ National Health and Welfare Plan, and who may have elected to participate in the National Flexible Benefits Program, will no longer be able to participate in the program effective Dec. 31.

Railroads have canceled the program owing to a contractual provision with BLET permitting them to cancel if participation failed to exceed five percent of eligible employees.

UTU members and/or dependents covered under the National Railway Carriers and UTU Health and Welfare Plan (NRC/UTU) are not affected. Affected only are engineers with a health savings account tied to the BLET national rail agreement.

Participants will receive a letter from UnitedHealthcare providing more details of the cancellation, and information on submitting claims incurred during calendar year 2009.

Further questions should be directed to UnitedHealthcare’s enrollment services, at (800) 753-2692.

Vaccine for the highly contagious H1N1 virus (commonly called “swine flu”) is now being released to the public as supplies become available. The information below will help you decide if you should obtain the vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that certain priority groups should receive the H1N1 flu vaccine. These groups are:

  • pregnant women;
  • caregivers for children younger than six months of age;
  • health care and emergency medical services personnel;
  • children and young adults from six months through 24 years old;
  • persons aged 25 through 64 years who have underlying health conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, conditions that suppress the immune system, heart disease and kidney disease) that might increase their risk for flu-related complications.

In an effort to minimize the occurrence of H1N1 flu among railroad plan participants and their dependents, the Railroad Employees National Health and Welfare Plan and the National Railway Carriers and United Transportation Union Health and Welfare Plan and their medical vendors (Aetna, Highmark and UnitedHealthcare), as well as the Railroad Employees National Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit Plan and its medical vendor (UnitedHealthcare), have taken a number of steps to reduce the cost of immunization.

To that end, effective immediately, the plans named above will cover the administration of the H1N1 vaccine through the end of December 2009 for covered plan participants and dependents, with no co-pays, deductibles or coinsurance payments.

A decision as to whether or not this special coverage handling will be extended into 2010 will be made by the end of the year.

Where to get the vaccine

Employees and their dependents have a broad range of options from which to choose where to get the H1N1 flu vaccine:

  • Public health clinics: The H1N1 vaccine should be available at most local public health clinics at no cost. Please call the health clinic first to make sure it has the vaccine.
  • Retail pharmacies and other clinics: Please call the pharmacy or other clinic first to make sure it has the H1N1 vaccine available.
  • Doctor’s office: Contact your primary care physician or network provider to find out if the H1N1 vaccine is available and if you should be immunized. Please note office visit co-pays will not apply if you see your doctor solely to obtain the H1N1 flu vaccine.

For the latest information on the H1N1 flu vaccine, please visit the Centers for Disease Control website (www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/) and/or contact your benefit administrator: