SMART Union
Has Amtrak abandoned its vision of 220-mile-per-hour bullet trains speeding up and down the Northeast Corridor?
The railroad recently issued draft specifications for new trains to replace its existing Acelas that call for 160 m.p.h. trains, not the 220 mph versions Amtrak said in January that it was seeking.
Read the complete story at The Inquirer.
WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board’s go-team will leave New York City this week after completing the necessary on-scene investigative work into the cause of the derailment of a Metro-North passenger train on Dec. 1. The NTSB will continue to gather factual information and investigators will return to New York as needed for follow-up work.
The following investigative update is provided regarding the Dec. 1 derailment:
Over the weekend, investigators completed the mechanical inspection of the train and found no anomalies. As stated last week, there were also no anomalies found with the tracks or with the signal system. Investigators examined car 6222, the lead car in which the engineer controlled the train. The “dead-man” switch, a foot-pedal on the floor of the cab that must be depressed to keep the train moving was evaluated. The pedal moved and released as expected. No anomalies were noted. In addition, the control key switch worked as designed. The team also conducted a site/distance test and found no problems with visibility.
As a result, at this time, the NTSB believes that if positive train control technology was installed on this line and train, it would have required the engineer to slow the train to an appropriate speed or stop the train in the event the engineer did not do so, likely preventing the derailment. The NTSB has been advocating for PTC for more than 20 years and it is on its Most Wanted List of transportation improvements. More information can be found at http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl8_2012.html.
Investigators completed interviews with all crew members. All have been cooperative and forthcoming. All said it was a normal run until shortly before the derailment sequence.
Investigators are still awaiting results of crew drug tests and cellphone records.
Investigators also interviewed the engineer of a train that passed the accident train, 8808, near Riverton at about 7:11 a.m. That engineer said the headlight on train 8808 was on high and the engineer did not dim his light as is required by Metro-North.
Mechanical examinations, such as shop testing of the of dead-man switch, inspection and testing of speed sensors and tachometer rings, the brake control unit, and the propulsion controller from the control car have been completed. No anomalies were found.
Ongoing activities include interviews with passengers, Metro-North employees who were riding on the accident train and first responders. Records continue to be gathered.
Investigators will also take 3-D scans of the damaged cars and locomotive for use in a digital accident re-creation and for detailed measurements.
The NTSB would also like to talk to passengers on the train that derailed to learn about what they experienced and causes of injury. Our goal is to ultimately make future improvements in the design of passenger rail cars.
Passengers on Metro-North train 8808 on Dec. 1 can contact the NTSB by email at eyewitnessreport@ntsb.gov.
JUNCTION CITY, OREGON — A bus used to drive Junction City School District students to and from school operated with front tires so worn that the cords underneath the tire tread were visible, state workplace safety regulators have found.
The bus company, First Student Inc., has acknowledged that the tires’ treads were too worn and fired a supervisor as a result. But the Ohio-based company has filed an appeal, disputing the amount of the fine — $3,800 — assessed by Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Division.
A hearing before an administrative law judge has yet to be scheduled, Oregon OSHA spokeswoman Melanie Mesaros said.
Read more at The Register-Guard.
Following years of failed negotiations with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road, the official proceedings of Presidential Emergency Board 244 (PEB 244) began Dec. 2, 2013, at the New York Hilton in New York City.
MTA had been seeking three years of “net zero” wage increases and major concessions from labor on pension contributions, health and welfare contributions and work rule changes.
The past week’s hearings, including testimony from various industry and financial experts, legal counsel and union leadership, were a clear indication of the commitment of the SMART Transportation Division’s leadership to its membership of General Committee of Adjustment 505 on the Long Island Rail Road.
GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon was joined by Transportation Division President John Previsich, Transportation Division Vice President John Lesniewski and members of GO 505 throughout the hearings as a coalition of unions worked tirelessly throughout the week to prepare and deliver labor’s case and arguments before the board.
Simon has maintained a commitment to utilize the process of the Railway Labor Act in obtaining a fair agreement for the 2,500 SMART members employed on the LIRR.
“After an intensive and relentless week of deliberations, I can say that our organization left no stones unturned during these proceedings. We presented an excellent case before the board and we are determined to fight for our members in order to obtain a fair and well-deserved agreement for all,” he said.
SMART International Representative Charles Fraley and SMART General Chairman John McCloskey were also in attendance and participated in the process, showing solidarity among the transportation and sheet metal divisions of SMART. SMART General President Joe Nigro has been kept informed of all matters in this ongoing dispute and has been supportive throughout the process, Simon said.
The board was provided an extensive history relative to other agreements in the industry, along with detailed financial information relative to the MTA’s ability to meet labor’s demands. The MTA has a robust financial plan that includes service restorations and extensive capital improvements, while standing firm on its unwillingness to provide wage increases to its represented workforce.
Following years of failed negotiations with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road, the official proceedings of Presidential Emergency Board 244 (PEB 244) began Dec. 2, 2013, at the New York Hilton in New York City.
MTA had been seeking three years of “net zero” wage increases and major concessions from labor on pension contributions, health and welfare contributions and work rule changes.
The past week’s hearings, including testimony from various industry and financial experts, legal counsel and union leadership, were a clear indication of the commitment of the SMART Transportation Division’s leadership to its membership of General Committee of Adjustment 505 on the Long Island Rail Road.
GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon was joined by Transportation Division President John Previsich, Transportation Division Vice President John Lesniewski and members of GO 505 throughout the hearings as a coalition of unions worked tirelessly throughout the week to prepare and deliver labor’s case and arguments before the board.
Simon has maintained a commitment to utilize the process of the Railway Labor Act in obtaining a fair agreement for the 2,500 SMART members employed on the LIRR.
“After an intensive and relentless week of deliberations, I can say that our organization left no stones unturned during these proceedings. We presented an excellent case before the board and we are determined to fight for our members in order to obtain a fair and well-deserved agreement for all,” he said.
SMART International Representative Charles Fraley and SMART General Chairman John McCloskey were also in attendance and participated in the process, showing solidarity among the transportation and sheet metal divisions of SMART. SMART General President Joe Nigro has been kept informed of all matters in this ongoing dispute and has been supportive throughout the process, Simon said.
The board was provided an extensive history relative to other agreements in the industry, along with detailed financial information relative to the MTA’s ability to meet labor’s demands. The MTA has a robust financial plan that includes service restorations and extensive capital improvements, while standing firm on its unwillingness to provide wage increases to its represented workforce.
In competitive markets, vision and strategy are tested daily as consumers vote with their wallets, investors choose among opportunities, and competitors react – all creating greater efficiency.
Conventional wisdom in passenger rail today is high speed trains. Amtrak, for example, has a 30-year, $117 billion (or more) plan to convert the 456-mile Northeast Corridor, linking Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, to a 220-mph speedway providing 96-minute trips between Washington and New York and 84-minute trips between New York and Boston. That equates to more than $250 million per mile, which, on the Washington D.C.-New York segment, would shave some 69 minutes from the current Acela Express trip that travels between 110 mph and 150 mph over 65 percent of the route and about 85 mph on average for the trip.
Read the complete column at Railway Age.
NEW YORK (AP) – A week after four people died in a New York commuter train derailment, two federal lawmakers proposed Sunday that trains nationwide be outfitted with cameras pointed at engineers and at the tracks.
“I know you’re going to hear from Metro-North that there are costs, but the costs of these audio and visual recorders is minuscule, in fact negligible, compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars that this tragic incident will cost Metro-North in the end,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut who joined New York Sen. Charles Schumer for a news conference at Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal.
Read the complete story at the Associated Press.
(John Previsich’s column below was reprinted from the November 2013 SMART Transportation Division News. See page 4.)
In this communication, my first to you as president of this great organization, I will begin by saying that I am honored by the opportunity to serve in this capacity. One of my goals for this administration is to be transparent in every way, allowing you, the membership for whom we work, to be aware and informed of the issues that affect you and your union.
Accordingly, I want to update you on a number of initiatives that are currently in progress at our offices in Cleveland and Washington. To begin, I will address the merger between Sheet Metal Workers International Association and United Transportation Union, an issue first and foremost in the minds of members at every meeting that I have had the opportunity to attend.
The merger agreement provided that the constitutions of the UTU and the SMWIA were to be combined into a single constitution for the new International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ union (SMART). Both the merger agreement and the subsequent arbitration award pertaining to implementation directed the parties to meet and resolve conflicts between the constitutions of the two organizations.
Accordingly, the parties met for extended periods on numerous occasions throughout 2012 and 2013 and have made excellent progress in reconciling conflicts between our respective constitutions. Nonetheless, in mid-2013, it became apparent to all involved that although we had accomplished much of the necessary work, additional direction from the arbitrator was needed in order to finalize the remaining issues. The parties submitted their respective views on the items still unresolved to the arbitrator and, at the time of this writing, are still awaiting an award that will offer guidance to move us to conclusion.
In order to meet all of the constitutional and regulatory requirements that apply to the two organizations, the former UTU – now SMART Transportation Division – convention originally scheduled for 2015 will be held June 30 – July 2, 2014, in San Diego, Calif. This will be followed by the first SMART convention to be held Aug. 11-15, 2014, in Las Vegas. Details regarding the two conventions are still being finalized and additional information will be distributed as soon as it becomes available.
Of course, the day-to-day business of representing our members continues without interruption. Among countless other initiatives, we are working hard in Washington to advance H.R. 3040, legislation that is intended to require two-person crews on trains. The Affordable Care Act and the recent Supreme Court decisions on same-sex spousal benefits require careful handling to ensure compliance, without negatively impacting the benefits enjoyed by our members who are currently a part of the National Health and Welfare Plan. And, our Organizing Department is continuing to lead all others in successfully organizing properties where the employees have sought union representation.
In matters of negotiations, we are assisting general chairpersons in contract negotiations with numerous bus companies and passenger and short line railroads around the country. In addition, we have recently requested proffers of arbitration from the National Mediation Board on two properties, one rail and one air. We have received and rejected the proffer on the rail property and are hopeful that the proffer requested on behalf of our brothers and sisters on the airline property will soon be granted by the NMB. Once received, a proffer may then be rejected and the parties advance to the next level in the process of getting to self-help.
The foregoing is a brief update on just some of the many efforts underway to protect and improve the working conditions of our members. In future articles, I will expand on each of these items and also discuss what’s ahead in 2014.
(John Previsich’s column above was reprinted from the November 2013 SMART Transportation Division News. See page 4.)
Joseph H. Boardman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amtrak, has been named 2014 Railroader of the Year by railroad industry trade journal Railway Age.
“Joe Boardman, who came to Amtrak after his tenure as Federal Railroad Administrator, has been chief executive for the past six years, far longer than any of his post-Graham Claytor predecessors,” said Railway Age editor-in-chief William C. Vantuono. “Under his watch, Amtrak has posted record ridership and revenues, ordered a new fleet of electric locomotives for the Northeast Corridor and new single-level long-distance cars, developed a long-term strategy for additional new rolling stock acquisitions, and is effectively administering major capital programs. Boardman has a sustainable vision for the future of U.S. intercity passenger rail, which includes higher-speed services. As such, he is a deserving recipient of our Railroader of the Year award.”
Read the complete story at Railway Age.
U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) has proposed the Commuter Rail Passenger Safety Act to help commuter railroads, such as MTA Metro-North Railroad, fund and implement positive train control (PTC) systems.
Maloney announced he would introduce the legislation earlier this week after touring the site of Metro-North’s deadly derailment in the Bronx, N.Y. On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that PTC would have prevented the crash, Maloney said in a press release.
Read the complete story at Progressive Railroading.