SMART UnionPORTLAND, Maine – A bankrupt railroad whose runaway train sparked a fire and explosion that killed 47 people in Quebec is seeking financing to use two-person train crews in the U.S., a company trustee said.
The move to beef up the crews comes after criticism of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway’s decision to keep one-person crews in the U.S., said Portland lawyer Robert J. Keach.
Read the complete story at the Boston Globe.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Marshawn Robinson is waiting for a pair of prosthetic feet after his were severed by a freight train in St. Paul just a few weeks ago, but his recovery was interrupted with what his family describes as a “strange visitor.”
The 9-year-old spent nine days in the hospital after the accident, and while he and his mother tried to figure out how they were going to cope, they met a representative from the railroad.
Read the complete story at MyFoxTwinCities.com.
Retired conductor John Herrmann of Local 694 invites all active and retired railroaders in the San Francisco Bay area to the sixth annual lunch and reunion from 1-5 p.m. on Oct. 26 at Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto, 1919 Fourth St. in Berkeley, Calif.
The cost of lunch, dessert, beverage, tax and tip is $35 in advance, or $40 at the door.
Entrée choices are chicken marsala, grilled sirloin of beef or salmon and include a vegetable and potato side dish. To make a reservation, call Herrmann at (925) 465-4122.
The meal will be served at approximately 2:00 p.m. Railroaders, family and friends from SP, UP, WP, AT&SF and Amtrak, as well as other lines, from all crafts, are invited to participate in special event. Those paying in advance should send their check or money order to Herrmann at P.O. Box 4763, Walnut Creek, CA 94596, and indicate the entrée choice.
The number of freight trains carrying oil across America has soared in the past five years, but federal officials warn that the massive steel tank cars that carry most of that oil through towns and past schools – the same cars that exploded in Quebec this summer, killing 47 – may be unsafe and prone to rupture.
“The clock is ticking,” said Jim Arie, fire chief of the Chicago suburb of Barrington, Ill., where the number of trains that rumble across Main Street has grown from five a day to nearly one an hour. “As long as these rail cars are out there and they’re being used, potential exists for a major disaster.”
Read the complete story at NBC News.
Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific Railroad, which has significant operations in Roseville, is launching drag-reducing freight train technology not too far removed from the aerodynamic designs used by open-wheel race cars.
It’s called Arrowedge, and it will be showing up this month on UP trains in California.
Read the complete story at The Sacramento Bee.
PORTLAND, Maine – The bankrupt railroad whose runaway train sparked a fire and explosion that killed 47 people in Quebec could be sold by year’s end, the company’s trustee said Thursday.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway has made no secret that its sale will be necessary to repay creditors and victims following the July 6 disaster Lac-Megantic, Quebec. And railroad trustee Robert Keach said he’s already been approached by “several” potential buyers.
Read the complete story at The Houston Chronicle.
TELLURIDE, Colo. – A small passenger airplane skidded to a halt on the Telluride Regional Airport runway on Sunday afternoon after part of its landing gear failed, but no injuries were reported.
The Great Lakes Airlines two-engine Beechcraft 1900 was flying in from Denver with around 10 passengers and two pilots on board. As the aircraft approached TEX at around 1 p.m., warning lights went off, indicating that landing gear on the left side of the plane near its wing had failed to lock, according to the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office.
Read the complete story at the Telluride Daily Planet.
BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered Pan Am Railways Inc. to pay $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as take corrective action, on behalf of an injured worker. The North Billerica-based commercial railroad adversely charged the worker with lying when he filed a Federal Railroad Safety Act complaint with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The employee, who works in a rail yard in Waterville, Maine, filed an OSHA complaint on Dec. 6, 2011, claiming that the railroad had subjected him to disciplinary action earlier, including a letter of reprimand, for reporting an injury and unsafe working conditions. Shortly after the filing, Pan Am Railways held a second disciplinary hearing on Jan. 4, 2012. It alleged that the worker made false statements to OSHA and the railroad.
OSHA found that the employee engaged in protected activity when filing the complaint, and the railroad took retaliatory action by charging him with lying and by holding the second disciplinary hearing. Such adverse action can intimidate employees from exercising their FRSA rights, even if the charge is later dropped, as it was in this case.
“Employers must understand that their employees have a legal right to file a whistle-blower complaint with OSHA without fear of retaliation,” said Marthe Kent, OSHA’s New England regional administrator. “Responding to an employee’s complaint with threats of disciplinary action is not acceptable and prohibited by law.”
In addition to the compensatory and punitive damages, OSHA has ordered Pan Am Railways Inc. to expunge all files and computerized data systems of disciplinary actions and references to the hearing notice and the January trial. The company must also post a notice to employees about its FRSA whistle-blower rights at all its Maine locations and on its internal website and provide all employees with copies of training materials related to FRSA. Finally, the company must pay reasonable attorney’s fees and compensate the employee for wages and benefits that were lost due to his attending the January disciplinary hearing.
OSHA enforces the whistle-blower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.
Under these laws enacted by Congress, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor for an investigation by OSHA’s Whistle-blower Protection Program. Detailed employee rights information is available online at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
WASHINGTON – It was an accident investigators say didn’t have to happen: Five years ago a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train near Los Angeles, killing 25 and injuring more than 100.
Technology is available to prevent the most catastrophic collisions, but the railroad industry and its allies in Congress are trying to push back a deadline for installing the systems until at least 2020.
Read the complete story at the Associated Press.
WASHINGTON – The nation was on the brink of a crippling national strike by railroad workers in the summer of 1963 when Congress stepped in to settle a years-long battle over how many men it took to safely operate a train.
The bill, signed by President John F. Kennedy in August 1963, set a historic precedent by forcing labor unions and railroad management into arbitration, a process that eventually allowed rail companies to trim their payrolls yet also protected the unionized workers who filled those jobs.
Read the complete story at the Morning Sentinel.