Year: 2009

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The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 made the first significant amendments to hours-of-service laws in nearly 40 years.

In response, the FRA issued an interim statement of agency policy and interpretation, which poses significant problems for train- and engine-service employees with regard to employee safety and earnings.

The UTU and the BLET now have jointly asked the FRA to reconsider portions of their interim statement of agency policy and interpretation. The new rules would impact more than 85,000 train- and engine-service employees who are members of the UTU and BLET.

Significantly, the UTU and BLET are asking the FRA to revisit its interpretation of how to determine whether an employee has received the statutorily required amount of off-duty time as prescribed by the Rail Service Improvement Act (RSIA).

The RSIA amended the statutory off-duty period by eliminating the option of eight consecutive off-duty hours, and required that the minimum statutory off-duty period be 10 consecutive hours in all cases (except in intercity passenger and commuter service).

The UTU and BLET assert that, “on its face, this change did nothing to force FRA to change its longstanding interpretation of how sufficient off-duty time is determined.”

Under the existing FRA method, a railroad is required to look back 24 hours at the employee’s on-duty time and determine if the employee had 10 hours of undisturbed rest in that window. If the answer is ‘yes,’ then the employee can work a full 12 hours. That approach is called the “fresh start look back” analysis.

But the FRA, in its interim statement of agency policy and interpretation, proposes to scrap the “fresh start look back” analysis and substitute what is called a “continuous look back” analysis.

A “continuous look back” analysis would require the railroads to look back at every moment during a duty tour to determine if the employee has had 10 consecutive hours of undisturbed rest in the 24 hours prior to that particular moment.

This new “continuous look back” approach would prohibit an employee from working the full 12 hours that are permitted by the law if they were to have more than a two-hour call.

The FRA’s proposed “continuous look back” approach not only adversely impacts an employee’s earnings, but interferes with a railroad’s need to maximize employee productivity.

In fact, the “continuous look back” approach also could result in more employees being forced to remain at away-terminal locations rather than returning home, which adversely impacts family life and imposes greater costs on a railroad.

For example, if an employee has a three-hour call — and this is generally of necessity in large metropolitan areas where commute times are long — the employee could only work 11 hours, because when the first minute of the 12th hour arrives, the railroad could not look back 24 hours and find 10 consecutive hours undisturbed hours off duty. (11 work + 3 hour call + 10 hours rest = 24 hours) Thus, the longer the call time, the less work the employee can legally perform.

For assignments with an interim period of rest, the most an employee could ever work is 10 hours. For an unassigned (extra board) employee who is working on call, the call time further reduces the amount of work time proportionally. If they get the typical two-hour call, the interim period of release is rendered moot.

10-hour call is best

The better solution would be to require a 10-hour call, which would permit 12-hour on-duty shifts, the UTU and BLET told the FRA. “It is obvious that an employee who is aware that they will be required to report for work in 10 hours is best able to schedule their rest so that they arrive at work in the most alert condition possible.

“The best medical evidence available establishes what the labor organizations have known for years: that employees will be most alert just after they wake up,” the UTU and BLET told the FRA. “We contend that an employee who sleeps or naps as close to their reporting time as possible, within reason, is the best rested employee and therefore the safest.”

In the joint statement signed by UTU International President Mike Futhey and BLET Acting National President Paul Sorrow, the FRA is asked to “reaffirm the long-standing ‘look back fresh start’ interpretation, which has served both safety and the industry well, and decline to adopt the proposed ‘continuous look back.'”

Click here to read the joint UTU/BLET submission to the FRA.

By UTU Assistant President Arty Martin

Early in our lives, we learn that success — whether it be graduation, being selected for a church choir, earning a spot on a sports team, or being hired to drive a bus, fly a plane or switch rail cars — requires preparation, following rules, and attention to the job.

Our union is structured to assure each of us the opportunity and right to guide our future under our collective bargaining agreements. Our responsibility is to understand our agreements, and learn to document carrier violations.

This is because we cannot expect the local chairperson, general chairperson or an International officer to know everything that is happening on a daily basis at each location.

Local officers, upon learning of your problems, have the responsibility to inform the general chairperson and/or state legislative director (the latter where safety issues are concerned). These officers then have the option, if necessary, of seeking assistance from the International.

The UTU constitution is very strong in preserving the autonomy of each local, with succeeding levels (general committees, state legislative boards and the International) prepared to assist in ensuring you obtain proper pay, benefits and working conditions as provided by your agreements.

At the International, we have one of the strongest and most successful law departments among labor organizations. History shows that the UTU does not hesitate to go to the court house on your behalf to enforce agreements.

We also work to build coalitions with other labor organizations, and often through the AFL-CIO, which carries the banner for almost 12 million working families.

The UTU’s membership in AFL-CIO — along with the UTU PAC — is a powerful tool for electing a labor-friendly candidates and influencing the passage of labor-friendly laws. I take pride that UTU International President Mike Futhey was just elected a vice president of the AFL-CIO, and named to its ruling Executive Committee.

I am reminded of the famous Norman Rockwell paintings of four basic freedoms: Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

These freedoms are the soul of union brotherhood and sisterhood, as working men and women from diverse backgrounds and cultures come together to fight for individual and collective respect and workplace rights.

I also recall reading a famous speech by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in which he proposed a Second Bill of Rights to guarantee a job with a living wage, freedom from unfair competition and monopolies, a home, medical care, education and recreation.

Much progress has been made, but more must be achieved. Together, through preparation and hard work, we must continue — with fire in the belly — the fight for what is right.

At the local level, members have the responsibility to fight for these rights also, beginning with identifying and properly documenting situations that hinder our very basic rights to a safe workplace, free of intimidation and harassment.

By UTU International President Mike Futhey

The AFL-CIO convention that elected new leadership and placed the UTU on its ruling Executive Council is the beginning of a powerful cooperative atmosphere that will be good for organized labor and, in particular, for the UTU membership.

Two comments of newly elected AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka are especially inspiring.

In his acceptance speech, Rich issued a tough warning that intra-union raiding would not be tolerated, and that raiding by organizations outside the AFL-CIO would be met with a forceful response by the 51 AFL-CIO labor organizations that represent almost 12 million working families.

Rich also pledged to make the labor movement appeal to a new generation of workers whom he said currently perceive unions as “only a grainy, faded picture from another time. We need,” he said, “a unionism that makes sense to the next generation – young women and men who either don’t have the money to go to college or are almost penniless by the time they come out.”

This thinking parallels what we are seeking to achieve within the UTU, and I am heartened that this approach has caused, in recent months, many hundreds of previously unorganized workers to choose the UTU as their bargaining agent.

The UTU continues to gain new members in the airline, bus and rail industries – working men and women who understand not only that in union there is strength, but that the UTU has a proven track record of negotiating world-class agreements and then enforcing those agreements.

Our cherished craft autonomy, beginning at the local level, permits every member an important say in crafting labor agreements.

Our craft autonomy begins with the individual member, who has the right and responsibility to document carrier violations of his or her agreement and be assured that every level of the organization – from local officer to general committee of adjustment to state legislative boards to the International is ready, willing, anxious and able to assist.

No member of the UTU stands alone. Our resources are substantial, and when we include the resources of our UTU PAC and the strength of the AFL-CIO, we match, and often exceed, the strength of the carriers.

A highlight of the AFL-CIO convention was the appearance of President Obama, who opened his speech by saying, “You know, the White House is pretty nice, but there is nothing like being back in the House of Labor.”

President Obama also said that among “the fundamental reasons I ran for president was to stand up for hardworking families; to ease the struggles, lift the hopes, and make possible the dreams of middle class Americans.”

Together, we can and will continue to improve the quality of life for the working men and women who say, “Union, yes!” I am proud to be playing a part on your behalf.

By Norman K. Brown
UTU medical consultant
There is an old saying among physicians that patients will lie more often about their drug usage and their sex lives than about any other topics. So, please, just give me the facts.
What drugs was Michael Jackson taking when he died? Who prescribed them? Why did he have available so many different drugs from so many doctors, and maybe some even via assumed names? How come he received a hospital-use only intravenous sedative in his home?
The recent tragic death of Michael Jackson has once again brought our attention to the double-edged sword of narcotic and sedative drugs. On the one hand, medical providers in their role as healers have prescribed narcotics, such as morphine, and sedatives such as the tranquilizers Valium, Xanax and Ambien to their patients over the years, and hence have given untold numbers of people relief from terrible pain and anxiety and insomnia. On the other hand, serious problems can develop using these drugs.
When a patient with a broken leg receives morphine for the pain, the patient’s brain experiences pain relief. In addition, the patient feels some degree of an altered state of consciousness, which patients describe as anything from very pleasant to obnoxious.
As doses are repeated, two brain/body changes occur:

  1. the brain’s desire for the repeat doses, even if the leg fracture is healing and should be less painful, often increases – called addiction; and,
  2. the body’s chemistry gradually cranks up its chemical destruction of the morphine, so to get the same brain result in the same patient, say a week later, increasing amounts of morphine are required – called tolerance.

Unfortunately, medical providers and their patients sometimes get caught up in a vicious cycle wherein the patient keeps requesting repeated, and often increasing, prescriptions of a given narcotic, when the condition for which it was given should be improving.
The doctor writes prescription after prescription, and addiction and tolerance follow.
Of course, when patients have progressive painful cancer, addiction is not a worry, and, incidentally, it is surprising how little apparent addiction occurs in this situation.
I am trying all day to respond to the needs, anxieties and pains of my patients, and I can understand the pressure Michael Jackson felt inside himself and conveyed to his doctors, as they were trying to respond to his pleas for help with anxiety and sleep .
Many of us have watched clips of Jackson’s rehearsals. He appeared to be in very high state of energy as he put his all into the performances. To get wound down from such high activity and get some sleep before another day — in fact, before many days of these performances — would not be easy for anyone. The Propofol worked. It was dangerous, but I would guess that Michael Jackson kept seeking it.
What can we learn here as consumers and prescribers of narcotics and sedatives?
Although there is a lot of variation, almost any prescriber and almost any patient together can evolve into an addicted patient.
As a prescriber, I need to think twice each time I hand such a prescription to a patient, especially if it is a repeat. As patients, I hope we will ask ourselves, “Do I really need to take another pain pill, and get refills, or can I work myself off of these pills?”
I hope those of us who need some type of pain medication every day are always trying to make life style efforts to reduce the pain without medication, for example using the body differently, exercising, losing weight, getting physical therapy, and even engaging in spiritual activities.
Narcotics and sedatives are a huge blessing for mankind in relieving suffering, but we always need to stay vigilant to keep them from doing more harm than good.
(To see other medical advice columns by Dr. Brown, click here:
https://www.smart-union.org/news/category/transportation/medical-consultant-news/

Conductor rate of pay
Effective DateGWI PercentDaily RateHourly Rate
Current (as of July 1, 2024)Amendable$292.40$36.59
July 1, 20254.00%$304.10$38.05
July 1, 20263.75%$315.50$39.48
July 1, 20273.50%$326.54$40.86
July 1, 20283.25%$337.15$42.18
July 1, 20293.00%$347.26$43.45
Yard foreman rate of pay
Effective DateGWI PercentDaily RateHourly Rate
Current (as of July 1, 2024)Amendable$327.70$40.96
July 1, 20254.00%$340.81$42.60
July 1, 20263.75%$353.59$44.20
July 1, 20273.50%$365.96$45.75
July 1, 20283.25%$377.86$47.23
July 1, 20293.00%$389.19$48.65
Increase value compounded over 5-Year Term=18.77% Average Increase Per Year over 5-Year Term=3.50%
Total Value Over 5-Year Term = $49,116.60
Note: Values based on 40-hour/5-day work-week as Yard Foreman (RCO Foreman would be higher as it includes RC Pay [46 minutes], which would will also increase annual!y based on the GWI)

By Richard Deiser
Vice President, Bus Department

Kudos to Alternate Bus Vice President-East Calvin Studivant and Alternate Bus Vice President-West Bonnie Morr for being chosen as delegates to the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh, where a highlight was President Obama’s speech that may be viewed on the UTU Web site at www.utu.org.

Calvin reports that he shook the president’s hand!

Congratulations also to UTU International President Mike Futhey on his election as an AFL-CIO vice president and his appointment to the federation’s Executive Council.

Several bus locals have been involved in contract negotiations, and the trend is towards shorter agreements in the hope that the economy will improve in the near future.

If that becomes reality, we will be able to negotiate wages and benefits from a far stronger position than in the current recession.

General Chairperson James Williams (Local 1564, Los Angeles) reports his members have ratified a new one-year agreement with the LACMTA after hard work and patience of all the committee members.

General Chairperson Nelson Manzano (Local 710, Elizabeth, N.J.; One Bus) praised the work done by Vice General Chairpersons James Powell and Jose Rivera in reaching a one-year agreement with Coach USA, holding the cost-sharing for health care.

Local 1558 in Westwood, N.J., (Rockland Coaches) reached a similar accord under the direction of General Chairperson Keith Mack, assisted by Mike Byrne, Helaine Parsons, Ed Pollard, Bob Panarotti and Abe Tsay.

Calvin Studivant’s Local 759 in Paramus, N.J., (Community Transit) won an important arbitration, which resulted in an employee being restored to work status with full back pay and benefits.

Also, General Chairperson Bill Koehn (Local 1670, Laredo, Texas; Laredo Metro) is keeping a watchful eye on bus inspections at the Mexican border.

The U.S. DOT has significantly reduced the number of buses inspected, leading to worries about safety, operator fatigue and equipment maintenance on these bus lines that operate far into the U.S. American companies cannot compete effectively when confronted by cheap labor, shoddy maintenance and falsified driver logs.

(The following information was released Sept. 30, 2009, by UnitedHealthcare.)

“We are concerned about the health and welfare of our members affected by the recent floods in Georgia and we have taken immediate action to offer:

  1. Assistance for members in locating an in-network care provider;
  2. Free help line for individuals in need of counseling.

Effective through Oct. 6, these measures apply to members residing in the following Georgia counties: Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Crawford, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Stephens, Walker.

Special assistance or accommodations

Members who have been displaced or whose network facility is not accessible and require assistance or special accommodations due to the flooding, should call the number on the back of their medical ID cards.

If members have been displaced from their place of residence, customer care professionals will help them locate an in-network provider. In an emergency, members should seek treatment at the nearest medical facility.

OptumHealth providing a 24-hour help line

A free help line is available to members trying to cope with the emotional consequences of the floods. Staffed by experienced masters-level behavioral health specialists, the free help line offers callers assistance with a range of personal concerns including stress, anxiety and the grieving process.

Callers may also receive referrals to community resources to assist them with specific concerns such as financial and legal issues.

The toll-free helpline phone number is (866) 342-6892 and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for as long as necessary. This service is free of charge.

Resources and information are also available online in English at www.liveandworkwell.com and in Spanish at www.mentesana-cuerposano.com.

At UnitedHealthcare, we will provide those railroad members affected by the floods in the affected Georgia counties with the best possible services and support, and will do everything we can to help them through this crisis.”

By UTU International President Mike Futhey

We accept that managing employees isn’t a popularity contest. But it need not be an unpopularity contest.

I share with each of you the concern over ratcheted-up harassment, intimidation and excessive discipline. There is no more economic sense to make out of this than there is common sense.

I was recently told of an incident where an experienced conductor’s work was interrupted no fewer than 18 times over a six-hour period to quiz him on operating rules. Such unjustifiable scrutiny contributes to an unsafe workplace, as the results are used to punish rather than to educate.

When employees in safety-sensitive positions are put in a position where their primary focus at work is defending themselves, their ability to do their jobs efficiently and safely is jeopardized. That is not in the offending carrier’s best interest, certainly not in the customers’ best interest, and absolutely not in the best interests of operating efficiently and safely.

We are putting a coalition together with other labor organizations to stop this unwarranted activity. First, we want to hear from you. On the UTU’s home page, at www.utu.org,  there is a link to contact information for each of the International’s senior officers.

Please, tell us the problems, with examples and details. Help us to teach the carriers we are going to represent our members and are not going to be silent while our members continue to be harassed, intimidated and excessively disciplined to the point of putting their limbs and lives in jeopardy. These members cannot focus on doing their jobs efficiently and safely.

No member should constantly have to look over their shoulder.

As the carriers’ attempt at tortured interpretations and applications of our agreements, we will fight them in the courts in Fort Worth, we will fight them on the properties from Jacksonville to Norfolk to Omaha, and we will not go quietly into the night. We will stand and fight.

Our message to the carriers is simple: We want our members properly trained, and then we expect the carries to leave us alone and let us do our work efficiently and safely.

On behalf of our members, we will — in the words of former President Al Chesser — “stand and fight with fire in the belly for what is right.”

By UTU International President Mike Futhey

We accept that managing employees isn’t a popularity contest. But it need not be an unpopularity contest.

I share with each of you the concern over ratcheted-up harassment, intimidation and excessive discipline. There is no more economic sense to make out of this than there is common sense.

I was recently told of an incident where an experienced conductor’s work was interrupted no fewer than 18 times over a six-hour period to quiz him on operating rules. Such unjustifiable scrutiny contributes to an unsafe workplace, as the results are used to punish rather than to educate.

When employees in safety-sensitive positions are put in a position where their primary focus at work is defending themselves, their ability to do their jobs efficiently and safely is jeopardized. That is not in the offending carrier’s best interest, certainly not in the customers’ best interest, and absolutely not in the best interests of operating efficiently and safely.

We are putting a coalition together with other labor organizations to stop this unwarranted activity. First, we want to hear from you. On the UTU’s home page, at www.utu.org,  there is a link to contact information for each of the International’s senior officers.

Please, tell us the problems, with examples and details. Help us to teach the carriers we are going to represent our members and are not going to be silent while our members continue to be harassed, intimidated and excessively disciplined to the point of putting their limbs and lives in jeopardy. These members cannot focus on doing their jobs efficiently and safely.

No member should constantly have to look over their shoulder.

As the carriers’ attempt at tortured interpretations and applications of our agreements, we will fight them in the courts in Fort Worth, we will fight them on the properties from Jacksonville to Norfolk to Omaha, and we will not go quietly into the night. We will stand and fight.

Our message to the carriers is simple: We want our members properly trained, and then we expect the carries to leave us alone and let us do our work efficiently and safely.

On behalf of our members, we will — in the words of former President Al Chesser — “stand and fight with fire in the belly for what is right.”

By Richard Deiser
Vice President, Bus Department

It was gratifying to see the large number of Bus Department local and committee officers and legislative representatives in attendance at the regional meeting in New Orleans. There were many long-time experienced veterans and many new faces.

President Futhey’s emphasis on organizing efforts will no doubt increase the need for training new officers in the future. The regional meetings continue to be a primary source of training for new and old. In New Orleans, we had seminars on what constitutes a grievance and preparing for arbitration by Dr. Francis X. Quinn.

Ernie Martinez (Local 1607), ably assisted by David Ojeda, conducted a two-part discussion on accident investigation.

The class on duties of local officers, taught by the International’s Director of Strategic Planning John Nadlin, was attended by an overflow crowd, as was the first-responder class directed by UTU organizer Billy Moye.

In addition, we had an open forum during which attendees had opportunity to discuss items of interest at their local and gather suggestions.

Everyone agreed that they came away having learned something new. I urge all the bus locals to send at least one officer to one of next year’s regional meetings. The few dollars you spend on training now can save thousands later.

Training also is available over the Internet through the UTU’s iLink connection to the UTU University.

The International also has booklets available, such as a manual for Bus Department chairpersons, and “Progress through Unity,” which is a compilation of materials from a number of previous regional seminars.