Year: 2013

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NEW YORK – The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has asked six railroad and transportation experts to examine recent safety-related incidents at three of its operating subsidiaries.


The panel will study the causes of recent derailments at Metro-North, the Long Island Rail Road and New York City Transit, examine maintenance and inspection programs and review safety procedures and the overall safety culture.

Read the complete story at the Times Herald-Record.

 

HARTFORD, Conn. – An October hearing will be held to address railroad issues including track inspection and maintenance as well as safety standards for both passengers and workers, federal officials investigating two recent Metro-North Railroad accidents in Connecticut announced Tuesday.

Representatives of Metro-North, government officials, labor unions and others will be witnesses Oct. 22-23 and discuss track work, crash standards for railroad passenger cars, protection of on-track work zones and organizational safety.

Read the complete story at the San Francisco Chronicle.

 

eeoc-logoCompany refused to allow employee with disability to return to work after treatment, federal agency charges

ATLANTA – A Norfolk, Va.-based railway company unlawfully discriminated against an employee because of his disability, degenerative disc disorder, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed Sept. 23 in Atlanta.

According to the EEOC’s suit, Norfolk Southern Railway Company violated federal law by not allowing a laborer to return to work after receiving treatment for his disability and being cleared by his treating physician to return to work with no restrictions.

According to the EEOC’s complaint, Norfolk Southern’s medical director disregarded the treating physician’s opinion as to the employee’s ability to work and determined he was medically disqualified from working without ever examining him. Norfolk Southern subsequently terminated the employee.

Disability discrimination violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to not discriminate against employees with disabilities or a record of a disability. In addition, employers who perceive employees as disabled when they are not disabled also violate the ADA. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company, Civil Action No. 1:13-cv-03126) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking reinstatement, back pay and compensatory and punitive damages for the employee, as well as injunctive relief designed to prevent future discrimination.

“An employer cannot terminate an employee because of a disability, or merely because it perceives that person to be disabled,” said Robert Dawkins, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “Here, the employee was ready, willing and able to work, but was fired based on preconceived notions about his abilities. Such conduct violates the ADA.”

Bernice Williams-Kimbrough, district director of the Atlanta office, said, “The EEOC is committed to stopping workplace disability discrimination in Georgia and across the country. Given the size of the employer, this lawsuit could assist in protecting the rights a large number of employees.”

The Atlanta District Office of the EEOC oversees Georgia and parts of South Carolina.

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.

Did your local do something special to celebrate Labor Day?

Did you hold a picnic or participate in a parade? If so, we would like to see your photographs.

If we receive enough of them, we’ll run them in next SMART Transportation Division newspaper.

Send your photographs to news_TD@smart-union.org. Be sure to include the names of the individuals pictured and the location where they were taken.

gavelThe case of a Norfolk Southern railroad conductor injured in a Dodge County train accident went all the way to the Georgia State Supreme Court.

On Sept. 23, the state’s highest court ruled that William Zeagler could sue the railroad, because he had not been trained properly for collisions.

Read the complete story at television station WMAZ.

 

C3RS_logoThe Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) took a significant step forward Sept. 1 by expanding the geographic coverage for Amtrak train and engine workers from 10 Amtrak yard facilities to all Amtrak-owned and dispatched territory throughout the system.
The C3RS is a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Federal Railroad Administration, participating railroad carriers and labor organizations. It is designed to improve railroad safety by collecting and studying reports detailing unsafe conditions and events in the railroad industry. Employees will be able to report safety issues or “close calls” voluntarily and confidentially.
Examples of close calls include varying levels of risk, such as leaving pieces of equipment unsecured, improper blocking, operating trains beyond track authority or violating operating rules.
Informational rollout sessions have been ongoing in the Northeast Corridor. SMART Transportation Division Vice General Chairpersons Gary Hopson (Amtrak GO 663), Charlie Yura (Amtrak GO 769) and Salvador Ruiz (CSX GO 342) attended the opening event in Washington Aug. 6 and were provided the opportunity to address all in attendance. Present and speaking on behalf of Amtrak were President and CEO Joe Boardman and Vice President of Operations D.J. Stadtler. FRA Acting Associate Administrator Bob Lauby was present as FRA Administrator Joe Szabo was unable to attend.
“We are in favor of this reporting system on both sides, labor and management, and it is going to benefit our membership. This marks the beginning of a collaborative initiative that will reduce accidents and injuries in our industry,” Hopson said.
“This sort of program is going to be required by the FRA and all Class I railroads will eventually have to have a program that mimics the program we are following.”
The expansion will also include any tracks or facilities acquired by Amtrak in the future. Coverage will now be available for incidents that result in damage below the FRA monetary reporting threshold and which do not involve an injury, as long as there is compliance with the other provisions of the implementing memorandum of understanding.
Close Call went into effect February 2011. SMART Transportation Division Assistant President John Previsich spearheaded SMART’s involvement in the four C3RS pilot projects – systemwide on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit, at CP’s Portage, Wis., yard and UP’s North Platte, Neb., yard.

National and state labor unions are supporting a coal export project in Washington, calling it a chance for an economic boon to an area in financial distress.

State AFL-CIO leaders testified earlier this week in front of a committee of the King County Council that not only had the state chapter came out in support last year of the Gateway Pacific Terminal in Whatcom County, but also that the national AFL-CIO passed a resolution during its convention earlier this month in support of the project.

Read the complete story at Northwest Watchdog.org.

BREWSTER, Ohio – The more than 100 locomotive engineers and trainmen who went on strike Friday have been ordered by a federal judge to return to work.

U.S. District Court Judge John R. Adams issued a temporary restraining order late Friday afternoon that ended the daylong strike by the members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which included pickets in front of the terminal on Wabash Avenue. The workers had cited safety violations as the reason for the protest against the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway.

Read the complete story at the Canton Repository.

 

SMART Transportation Division Colorado State Legislative Director Carl Smith invites all SMART members in the Trinidad area to a memorial service at 11:00 a.m. on Sept. 22 commemorating the Ludlow Massacre of April 20, 1914.
The United Mine Workers of America service will honor the miners who struck on Sept. 23, 1913, and the miners and their family members who were massacred seven months later.
Smith will be in attendance.
For complete information and driving directions, see the notice below.
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This story was adapted from the original by Tom Campbell, which appeared May 19, 2013, in Western New York Labor Today.
imagThis spring, five Local 71 retirees received the distinguished 2013 Preservation Award from Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN) during its 5th Annual Preservation Awards Ceremony and Luncheon in Buffalo, NY. They were honored for donating their time to help restore Buffalo’s Central Terminal by building replicas of Art Deco-style light sconces from scratch.
Local 71 Business Manager John Helak, who was on hand for the ceremony, noted that “this is a high honor for them, but it was never about them or the union—it was just a project that they were asked for their help on.”
10,000 passengers passed through Buffalo’s once-bustling Central Terminal every day during its peak in the mid twentieth century. The building was in service from 1929 to its closing in 1979. Though it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, the Central Terminal fell victim to decay and became a haven for vandals. Shattered windows, cracked concrete, and broken pieces of marble scarred the once-graceful interior and its surroundings. Enduring several harsh Buffalo winters, the building further deteriorated to the point where its shops, restaurants, soda fountains, and concourse were hardly recognizable anymore.
Local 71 Business Manager John Helak approached the retirees after PBN called him for help. According to Helak, “I was told they had some photos and dimensions and was asked, ‘Can you make them?’ I said I couldn’t, but had a couple of fellas I could ask. They come in here to the hall and on their own time and expense are hand-crafting the sconces.”
The task was not a simple job. Retirees Larry Fuchs, a 40-year union member from Buffalo who retired in 2000; Roger Korsh, a 50-year member from Buffalo who retired in 2002; Andy Adams, who retired in 1994; Henry Forman, who retired in 1998; and Robert Stetzko, a 30-year member who retired in 2008, met each Wednesday at the union hall and training facility on Liberty Avenue to build—from scratch—the sconce lamps that once helped light up the Terminal’s Passenger Concourse.
The ornate 27-inch tall, 22-inch wide, eight-sided octagon sconces were constructed without the benefit of original plans or materials. They relied on photos and the dimensions of the original lanterns, now displayed in a Hong Kong restaurant that purchased the sconces when a salvage company sold them in the 1980s.
According to Central Terminal Restoration Corporation President Mark Lewandowski, the photos were taken by a Western New Yorker on vacation in Hong Kong. This vacationing New Yorker not only snapped the pictures, but was allowed to take and write down the dimensions of the sconces, information that was eventually used to help guide the construction of the new lanterns.
Roger Korsh stipulated that “we have not ‘duplicated’ the originals.” Those were constructed out of brass, and the new ones are constructed out of galvanized steel.
Stetzko told Western NY Labor Today that “each sconce project [was] broken down into pieces by the three so a reconstruction procedure could be put into place. Each piece of the eight-sided octagon sconce is clamped down before it’s eventually soldered and/or spot-welded.”
The crew is initially making six sconces as they continue to “get the bugs out,” Stetzko said.
“It’s a challenge,” adds Fuchs. “But it’s about quality control. If it fits, it’s a go, but it’s the kind of project that as it gets looking better, expectations get higher.”
Robert Stetzko made it a point to note that sheet metal workers “do more than just make ductwork.” “We can do anything. The impossible only takes a bit longer. It’s a challenge, but we enjoy doing it. It’s a good feeling to give something back. I’ve lived here all my life and I’m doing my bit to help support [the community].”
Local 71 has also been involved in other ways with the Central Terminal Restoration Project. Business Manager Helak and Business Agents Paul Crist and Joe DeCarlo have dedicated their time to recreating ornate metal railings that have been installed within the Central Terminal’s Passenger Concourse. “We tried to replicate [the railings] as they were, but it wasn’t doable,” Helak said.
All the materials being used to construct the Central Terminal Passenger Concourse Sconces—as well as the railings—have been donated.
Korsh noted, “We’d like to make the public aware of where these sconces are coming from so they think twice about saying anything negative or putting down union people or our union.”