Month: December 2010

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STOUGHTON, Mass. — An alert and ever vigilant Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad crew — that recognized the difference between a bag of clothes between the tracks and a human being — saved a life in this Boston suburb last week.

The MBCR crew, with engineer Chris Holm at the throttle and conductor John Gibbs (UTU Local 898) in charge, brought the six-car train to a halt after the locomotive’s headlight pierced the dark and illuminated what turned out to be an intoxicated man who had stumbled.

“He wasn’t coherent,” Gibbs told the Boston Herald. “He told me he wanted to rest. I said, ‘This isn’t the place to do it.’

“We’re trained to do this,” said Gibbs, age 54 and with 17 years of service as a conductor. “It’s good to know when it happens you can snap right to it.”

An MBCR spokesperson told the Herald, “It’s hardworking, quick-thinking men like Chris Holm and John Gibbs that show what an excellent job the men and women on the commuter rail do every day.”

BUFFALO — UTU-member and Buffalo school bus driver Yolanda Luciano (Local 1908) is being hailed as a hero — likely saving the lives of one or more of the eight elementary-school students aboard her First Student bus by engaging in a split-second emergency defensive driving maneuver on a snowy street the afternoon of Dec. 8.
An automobile, its driver allegedly fleeing police — and perhaps traveling 100 mph before the crash, according to Buffalo television news reports — appeared in Luciano’s windshield, coming directly at her bus.
Luciano abruptly steered the bus from a direct head-on impact with the blue Chevrolet Impala, but it was still a head-on crash.
“Everything went up in smoke and flames, just horrible,” an eyewitness told WGRZ television news. Luciano helped evacuate the children from the bus.
“She really handled the situation well,” said General Chairperson Dale McClain. “She saved lives.”
Only one student — a six-year-old — was injured seriously enough to be hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries. The driver of the auto also was hospitalized with unspecified injuries.
UTU Local 1908 represents some 600 First Student drivers and mechanics in Buffalo.

First it was Union Pacific wanting to have its trains inspected in Mexico.

Now BNSF is making the same plea to the FRA — and as the UTU and other rail unions did in the case of UP — the FRA is being advised to, “just say no.”

Putting safety first cannot co-exist with farming out crucial safety inspections to the lowest bidder, the UTU and the other labor organizations told the FRA in the case of both UP (in October) and BNSF (in December).

To begin with, the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 established standards to be met when railroads seek safety waivers, such as wanting trains inspected south of the border.

The UTU, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes and the American Train Dispatchers Association contend that neither UP nor BNSF have demonstrated that the inspections in Mexico will meet minimum FRA standards.

In fact, neither UP nor BNSF has shown that the FRA will have the uninhibited authority to examine the Mexican facilities where the safety inspections would be made.

Furthermore, said the UTU and other labor organizations, moving the inspections south of the border would be in direct conflict with congressional policy — and eminent common sense — to preserve employment in the U.S. during this lengthy and stalled recession.

The labor organizations told the FRA that “it is common” for cars from Mexico to enter the U.S. “with handbrakes applied, retaining valves set, angle cocks closed and bad order cars located within the train.

“Not to be overlooked is the fact that these trains also frequently are transporting hazardous materials cars,” the UTU and other labor organizations told the FRA.

“Historically, the FRA has denied requests for waivers of air brake and mechanical safety inspections on trains entering the U.S. if the request involves movement of the trains past a point where the inspections can be performed,” said the labor organizations.

WASHINGTON — Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis (TRRA) faces a fine from the FRA for alleged failure to report an injury and for underreporting of days lost by an injured employee and failure to maintain complete and timely records of injuries to other employees, says the FRA.

“These latest findings from the FRA confirm a disturbing trend that began to emerge more than a year ago,” said UTU Illinois Legislative Director Robert W. Guy. “They suggest a deteriorating safety atmosphere at TRRA. The railroad has now been cited for safety violations four times within a year, including this latest citation.”

Guy advised TRRA employees to stay alert for safety hazards and to report to the local immediately any effort by TRRA management to subvert the operating rules or FRA-mandated safety practices. “The key is to report what you see to your local and let the Illinois Legislative Board follow up with the appropriate enforcement agencies,” Guy said. “Do not be insubordinate or refuse to carry out orders.

“Once you have carried out your orders, however, do your best to remember the time, date and location of any unsafe practices that you witnessed or participated in, and be sure to provide the local with the name of the supervisor who directed you to work in an unsafe manner or permitted a violation of the federal reporting laws. The union will take it from there, and as the FRA’s latest letter proves, when our members act, the union gets results.”

Keith Fitzhugh is a conductor trainee on Norfolk Southern’s Atlanta North District.
He could be playing football with the New York Jets.
If you think trading a National Football League playbook for an operating employee’s rulebook is something akin to carrying the ball toward your own goal line, think again.
The 24-year-old Fitzhugh — who has made application for UTU membership when he completes his probationary period in January — knows the value of steady work and regular paychecks in an economy thrown for a loss. “You can have a fine living working for the railroad,” Fitzhugh said.
Cut by the Jets pre-season, Fitzhugh responded to an early December invitation to return as a defensive back with a polite, “thanks, but no thanks.”
Fitzhugh began conductor training with NS in September, established seniority in November, and looks forward to membership in UTU Local 511 in Atlanta. He was raised in nearby Hampton, Ga.
“For me, having job security is important,” said Fitzhugh, who is helping to support his disabled father, a former truck driver. “I was released three times [twice by the Jets, once by the Baltimore Ravens]. There is no job security [in the National Football League]. Why risk losing a good job with Norfolk Southern? I have buddies with two degrees who can’t find a job.
“Working for Norfolk Southern is one of the best prestigious jobs you can have,” Fitzhugh said. “I don’t want to give up what I have now, go back to playing football a couple of weeks and then be released again. I have to look out for what’s best for me and my family.”
“To sacrifice what he did for his family is the most unselfish thing I’ve heard by a player in sports,” Fitzhugh’s agent told the Associated Press.
“I think riding on a locomotive is one of the coolest things,” Fitzhugh said. “I talked with my parents about it. They have always thought highly of Norfolk Southern, where it’s safety first.”
Fitzhugh, a standout safety at Mississippi State University, was signed by the Jets in 2009. He was named by USA Today as one of the top 200 college football players in the nation, and played as a senior in the East-West Shrine Bowl. At Mississippi State, he earned a degree in communications, with a minor in marketing.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                               Fitzhugh

WASHINGTON — House Republicans selected their committee leaders Dec. 7.

As expected, John Mica (R-Fla.) was elected to chair the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee for 2011-2012. Most legislation affecting air, bus and rail members originates in this committee.

Here is the full list of Republican chairs for the upcoming Congress:

Agriculture: Frank Lucas of Oklahoma

Appropriations: Hal Rogers of Kentucky

Armed Services: Howard “Buck” McKeon of California

Budget: Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

Education and Labor: John Kline of Minnesota

Energy and Commerce: Fred Upton of Michigan

Financial Services: Spencer Bachus of Alabama

Foreign Affairs: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida

Homeland Security: Peter King of New York

Judiciary: Lamar Smith of Texas

Natural Resources: Doc Hastings of Washington

Oversight and Government Reform: Darrell Issa of California

Science and Technology: Ralph Hall of Texas

Small Business: Sam Graves of Missouri

Transportation and Infrastructure: John Mica of Florida

Veterans’ Affairs: Jeff Miller of Florida

Ways and Means: David Camp of Michigan

WASHINGTON — Random drug and alcohol tests administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Transit Administration to air, bus and rail workers in safety sensitive positions will remain at 2010 levels, says the U.S. Department of Transportation.

 For 2011:

  • For bus drivers, the random drug testing rate will be 50 percent; and the random alcohol testing rate will be 10 percent.
  • For airline workers, the random drug testing rate will be 25 percent; and the random alcohol testing rate will be 10 percent.
  • For rail workers, the random drug testing rate will be 25 percent; and the random alcohol testing rate will be 10 percent.
  • For transit workers, the random drug testing rate will be 25 percent; and the random alcohol testing rate will be 10 percent.

A 65-mile route through California’s Central Valley and Fresno has been selected by state officials as the starting point for a high-speed rail passenger line intended initially to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, reports The New York Times.

That segment would make use of $4.5 billion in federal stimulus funds allocated by to California as seed money for a HSR project that might eventually link Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

The estimated total cost of the project could reach $60 billion. California voters in 2008 voted to authorize the selling of almost $10 billion in bonds to help finance the project, with hopes of attracting additional federal funds, plus private sector funds. Were the bonds sold, the combination of bond funds and the existing federal grant would total less than $15 billion — about 25 percent of the total cost.

The California HSR project is described by The New York Times as “the largest public works project in the United States … [but] “it is unclear how the Republican-controlled House and a tighter Senate will view the project in the next Congress.”

Some Republicans have indicated they will seek to reclaim the $4.5 billion DOT grant as it was awarded without congressional input.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear an argument by CSX in 2011 challenging standards for rail workers bringing lawsuits under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), reports Bloomberg.

The decision could affect future FELA cases.

The specific case to be heard, reports Bloomberg, involves a CSX engineer who won a $184,250 FELA award for a hand injury suffered while on duty.

Said Bloomberg, “The case centers on the test for determining whether a railroad’s negligence was the cause of an employee’s injury.”

The federal judge hearing that case, reports Bloomberg, told the jury “that the railroad was responsible for negligence if its negligence ‘played a part — no matter how small — in bringing about the injury.'”

CSX, according to Bloomberg, contends that injured rail workers should meet a more demanding standard, as is required in other types of personal-injury lawsuits not covered by the FELA, which applies only to railroads and their workers.

The more demanding standard would require the employer’s action to be the “primary cause” of the injury, known as “proximate cause” in legal jargon.

The UTU’s negotiating committee and railroads party to the national rail agreement — affecting some 40,000 UTU members — have met seven times since the contract came open for amendment Jan. 1.

“Nothing has been agreed to, but progress is being made on wages, benefits and working conditions,” said UTU International President Mike Futhey. “It is impossible to say that any issue has been finalized until all issues are agreed on.”

The existing national agreement remains in force until amendments are concluded under provisions of the Railway Labor Act.

Carriers in national handling, under the umbrella of the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), include BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and many smaller railroads.

In addition to UTU lead negotiator President Futhey, UTU officers on the negotiating team include Assistant President Arty Martin; UTU International Vice Presidents Robert Kerley and Delbert Strunk; and General Chairpersons John Lesniewski (GO 049), Pate King (GO 680) and Doyle Turner (GO 347).

Negotiations also continue between the NCCC and two rail-labor coalitions.

One, led by the Teamsters Rail Conference, includes the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths, the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association.

The other, which has asked for mediation under provisions of the Railway Labor Act, includes the Transportation Communications Union, the American Train Dispatchers Association, the International Association of Machinists, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the Transport Workers Union.