Year: 2013

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healthcarenews2Rail labor organizations and rail management through the National Carriers Conference Committee have reached an accord to extend medical, dental and vision benefits to same-sex couple spouses, effective Jan. 1, 2014.

The plans affected are the National Railway Carriers/UTU Health and Welfare Plan, the Railroad Employees National Health and Welfare Plan, the Early Retirement Health and Welfare Plan, the Railroad Employees’ National Dental Plan and the Railroad Employees National Vision Plan.

The NCCC states that there is no requirement under applicable law or under the current collective bargaining agreement to provide this coverage, but the change was agreed upon based on recent changes to federal law allowing same-sex couples to access federal tax benefits provided to other married couples.

Railroads participating in the aforementioned health care plans will be announcing these changes on their company websites and will notify employees in the near future by mail.

The announcement comes one day after a lawsuit was filed Dec. 3 in U.S. District Court in Seattle that said same-sex spouses were routinely denied medical coverage. The employees filing the suit worked for BNSF Railway.

SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich said the parties had recently concluded the discussions to extend benefits to same sex married couples, and formal announcement was on hold pending the resolution of final details. That announcement was moved up, said Previsich, to inform affected members and avoid unnecessary litigation on the matter.

The Seattle lawsuit was filed by two engineers – one man and one woman – and their same-sex spouses. It says BNSF had a “stated policy” that “one man and one woman” is what constitutes marriage. “BNSF does not get to judge what marriage is,” the suit said.

BNSF, which is owned by Omaha’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said the matter was properly handled through the National Railway Labor Conference, which could have handled it either through collective bargaining or, as it did, via the governing committee.

“This was the correct way to deal with the issue, as our prior statement indicated,” said Steve Forsberg, BNSF’s director of external relations. “Changes to the plan must come through the collective bargaining process or through the plan’s governing committee because the agreement involves multiple employers and multiple unions.”

Spouses of salaried employees in same-sex unions, Forsberg said, are eligible for health care coverage if they were married in a state where such marriages are legal. Such unions are not legal in Nebraska, where BNSF employs about 5,000 people.

Great_Lakes_Airlines_logo_150pxThe U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Monday proposed fining Southwest Airlines $325,000, saying the Dallas-based airline operated a plane that had improper modifications.

The U.S. agency alleged in a statement that the incident, from August 2011, involved the faulty installation of a switch on a Boeing 717 that allows crews to test the plane’s windshield heating system. The plane was operated by AirTran, which Southwest bought in 2011.

Read the complete story at the Chicago Tribune.

When a train derails and people die, as happened Dec. 1 in New York, there are going to be lots of questions. Eventually, there will be answers to most. But will anyone be able to answer this question: How much are the lives of train passengers worth?

On Dec. 2, as investigators probed the crash of a Metro-North Railroad commuter train that left four passengers dead, there were reports that the train’s engineer, William Rockefeller, had “zoned out” at the time of the crash. The train was going 82 miles per hour around a 30-mph curve when it derailed.

Read the complete story at the Los Angeles Times.

WASHINGTON — A New York congressman is proposing legislation aimed at preventing another accident like Sunday’s fatal Metro-North derailment in the Bronx.

The proposal from Democratic Rep. Sean Maloney of Cold Spring would help Metro-North and other commuter rail systems apply for federal loans to upgrade trains with “positive train controls” to prevent collisions, switching mistakes and derailments caused by excessive speed.

Read the complete story at www.pressconnects.com.

bre4On Veterans Day, November 11th, 2013, a delegation of sheet metal worker veterans from the Vietnam, Gulf, and Afghan wars had a message for a San Francisco developer.   They demanded that BRE Properties CEO Connie Moore should provide Middle Class job opportunities and employ apprentices from approved State of California Apprenticeship Programs. BRE Properties has refused to reach an agreement with Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 104 that would ensure our veterans got the opportunity they deserve. (Click here to play video).  Once the delegation arrived to the elevator, they were notified that they would not be allowed access to Connie Moore and she had expressed a strong desire NOT to meet with the veterans. The veteran delegation returned to their supporters outside. Two veterans, both of whom are sheet metal workers, William Leighton and Jason Hutton, held their ground when the police would no longer allow the protest outside of the building. Both were arrested for trespassing.

SMART prides itself about its policy giving a select number of veterans the opportunity at direct entry into our Trade. Two years ago at the first Campaign for Jobs Conference, one of the main goals adopted by the over 250 rank and file Campaign for Jobs leaders present was to create a direct entry program for veterans to give them the opportunity to return from war with their head held high.
SMART will continue to stand by our veterans. Contact BRE CEO Connie Moore and demand she respect our returning veterans.

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Smith

Funeral services were held Tuesday, Dec. 3, for Timothy J. Smith, 66, who died Nov. 28 after a hard fought battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
Smith worked 30 years as an engineer for Lake Terminal Railroad in Lorain, Ohio, with 22 of those years serving as general chairperson. He was a member of the former UTU Local 1391 at Lorain. He was a dedicated union leader willing to help out anyone in need.
Following his graduation from Admiral King High School in 1965. Smith enlisted in the U.S. Army and served his country honorably for three years.
He is survived by his wife, Cathy; sons, Timothy B. Smith and Kevin A. Smith, and granddaughter, Katie.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation at www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/donate. Online condolences may be sent using www.rsgfuneralhome.com.
 

YONKERS, N.Y. – The revelation that a New York City commuter train derailed while barreling into a sharp curve at nearly three times the speed limit is fueling questions about whether automated crash-avoidance technology could have prevented the carnage.

Safety officials have championed what’s known as positive train control technology for decades, but the railroad industry has sought to postpone having to install it because of the high cost and technological issues.

Read the complete story at Federal News Radio.

FRA_logo_wordsThe Federal Railroad Administration Nov. 29 announced a new final rule intended to further help with the evacuation of passengers and crewmembers in the event of a rail emergency.

Among the provisions, the rule requires that vestibule and interior passageway doors on passenger cars be fitted with removable panels and windows to allow passage if the doors do not open, and to provide for manual override in opening doors. It also requires floor or low-level lighting marking exit paths to assist passengers in reaching and operating emergency exists, particularly under conditions of limited visibility.

Further, the FRA is adding standards to ensure that emergency lighting systems are provided in all passenger cars, and strengthening requirements for the survivability of emergency lighting systems in new passenger cars.

To read the final rule, click here.

WASHINGTON – The threat of unscrupulous school bus contractors transporting our nation’s students and the working conditions of drivers are among the topics featured at today’s school bus summit hosted by the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.
“During this summit we will drill down on the challenges faced by school bus drivers in a fast-changing industry that we believe needs greater scrutiny from federal and state regulators,” said TTD President Edward Wytkind. “To push this dialogue forward we will discuss reforms and better practices needed to protect the 25 million students our members transport daily. We are especially pleased that Anne Ferro, Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), will join us.”
The summit, TTD’s second gathering of this kind in three years, will bring together national and local bus union leaders and activists, experts and federal regulators.
“We are grateful for the dedicated men and women who drive our kids to and from school and extracurricular events safely every day,” said Wytkind. “But we owe them more than our thanks – we must address their working conditions, improve oversight of private contractors and make sure we are providing them the support they need to maintain the highest safety standards possible.”
“We at FMCSA share a deep commitment to high safety standards for school bus drivers who keep our most precious cargo – our children – safe as they travel to and from school,” said Administrator Ferro. “It’s critical that everyone works together to make our highways and roads continually safer, and for the public do its part by driving safely in the vicinity of school buses.”
The agenda for today’s second summit will address four core issues:

  • Privatization: Unscrupulous private contractors often cut all the wrong corners, which undermines workers’ wages and benefits and subjects school children to substandard, poorly regulated school bus operations.
  • Driver Training to Keep Buses Safe: From intruders who try to board buses to students bullying each other, violence can erupt on buses. Drivers, who face physical attacks, need to be trained to respond to these situations while maintaining safe operation of their vehicles.
  • Bus Capacity: When drivers transport more students than a bus can reasonably fit, cramped space can jeopardize student safety if an accident or behavior outburst occurs.
  • Sleep Apnea: Any future regulations that create additional employment requirements must treat school drivers fairly.

“We will leave this summit with a better understanding of the challenges faced by America’s school bus drivers and their passengers and with a renewed commitment and strategy to make these operations safer,” Wytkind said.

800px-AustinSkylineLouNeffPoint-2010-03-29-bIn Austin, Texas, the economy is booming.  Business Journal recently ranked the city’s economy 1st out of 102 major metropolitan areas with an estimated 100 people are moving to Austin each day.  Yet the boom has yet to reach the construction workers who working to help the city expand.  A move last week by the Austin City Council aims to right that wrong.
Following controversy surrounding the construction of a Marriot that did not pay prevailing wages, the council has voted 6-1 to require companies receiving economic development incentives from the city to pay construction workers a prevailing wage.  Austin is now the second largest city in Texas to have such a requirement.  The new proposal will set a minimum wage for construction workers on projects aided by tax incentives at $11 an hour.  It will also allow workers to qualify for prevailing wages on other projects.  Read more at We Party Patriots.