Year: 2014

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SMART Transportation Division members represented by General Committee of Adjustment GO 875 have approved a new agreement with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority that attains all of the goals sought by the committee’s negotiating team.

The general committee represents bus and light and heavy rail operators throughout the county’s transportation system, as well as schedule makers and schedule checkers for the agency.

“The major issues given to the committee’s negotiators by the membership were discipline policies and work rules, an elimination of a two-tier wage scale and the security of the health and welfare trust. This contract accomplishes all of those goals,” said SMART International Representative Vic Baffoni. “The committee sought to address these issues, first and foremost, and our members approved of their accomplishments.

“Preservation of our work rules was paramount, and we totally renegotiated the discipline policy to provide our members with job security and fair treatment.”

The general committee represents approximately 5,000 LACMTA employees and is the largest bus and transit property represented by SMART.

The negotiation team was led by GO 875 General Chairperson James Williams and general committee members Local 1607 Chairperson Lisa Arredondo, Local 1563 Chairperson Robert Gonzalez, Local 1564 Chairperson Ulysses “Butch” Johnson, Local 1565 Chairperson Eddie Lopez and Local 1608 Chairperson John M. Ellis.

In preparation for the negotiations, Williams held meetings with California Gov. Jerry Brown and Los Angeles City Mayor Eric Garcetti. Preliminary negotiations with the agency commenced in February, following discussions with members at local meetings to pinpoint their objectives for a new contract. Negotiations with LACMTA officials began in earnest in March.

“This General Committee is extremely proud of the work that was put into crafting the new work rules for our members. Other transportation unions have gone on strike to get a fraction of what our committee was able to accomplish. There is not a doubt in my mind that these rules will serve as a model for other bargaining units in the future,” Williams said.

Under the new contract, an unfair and divisive two-tier wage system was eliminated for good and was replaced by a seniority-based rate schedule. Under previous agreements, operators hired after July 1, 1997, were paid significantly less than operators hired on or before that date.

Employees will now see wage increases after five, six, 10, 11 and 17 years of full-time service.

“If you put in the time and do the job, any operator can now reach the top of the pay scale,” Williams said.

During the life of the contract, all operators will see at least one significant pay increase, with the top-rate employees receiving a 4.5 percent pay increase immediately. Trainees, schedule checkers and schedule makers, and some part-time operators, will receive rate increases as well.

GO 875 represents members of Transportation Division Locals 1563, 1564, 1565, 1607, 1608. LACMTA Metro operates 2,228 vehicles over 1,433 square miles. The authority reports its total calendar monthly system-wide boardings for July 2014 at 38,327,115 riders.

GO-875_officers

Pictured, from left, are Local 1564 Chairperson Ulysses “Butch” Johnson, Local 1608 Chairperson John M. Ellis, General Chairperson James Williams, Local 1607 Chairperson Lisa Arredondo, Local 1563 Chairperson Robert Gonzalez and Local 1565 Chairperson Eddie Lopez, GO 875 members who negotiated the LACMTA contract.

A 42-year-old woman died after being trapped between two train cars in a southeast Colorado Springs industrial complex Wednesday, Colorado Springs police and fire officials said.

Officials have ruled the death an industrial accident.

Read the complete story at The Gazette.

oil-train-railCalifornia’s two major railroad companies have filed suit in federal court challenging a state law requiring railroads to come up with an oil spill prevention and response plan.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, contends federal laws largely prohibit states from imposing safety rules on railroads such as the ones California began imposing July 1 of this year. The plaintiffs in the matter are the Union Pacific Railroad, the BNSF and the Association of American Railroads.

Read the complete story at The Sacramento Bee.

STB_logoFARGO, N.D. – Grain elevator and agriculture groups are cautiously optimistic that a more extensive reporting system for railroads, ordered Oct. 8 by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, will at least allow agricultural shippers to see whether they’re getting the same kind of service as oil, coal and other industries.

The STB, which regulates railroads, ordered all of the nation’s Class I railroads to provide weekly data about shipping. That’s more than the agricultural shipping reporting they had required of only BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway earlier this summer.

Read the complete story at AG Week.

NTSB_logoThe National Transportation Safety Board Sept. 24 issued a special investigation report on the recent increase in deaths of railroad and rail transit roadway workers on or near tracks and made recommendations to reduce the number of fatalities.
The Special Investigation Report on Railroad and Rail Transit Roadway Worker Protection provides details of 14 fatal accidents in 2013. Over the year, 15 roadway workers died. The number of deaths in 2013, the findings from investigations of those deaths and the increasing number of fatalities prompted the NTSB to look more closely at the issue of roadway worker safety and to recommend actions to address these issues.
Railroad and rail transit roadway workers are subject to on-the-job risks and hazards that are markedly different from those faced by other railroad employees. Of the fatalities in 2013, 11 resulted from 11 accidents on freight railroads and four were on commuter or transit railways. The average number of railroad worker fatalities has fluctuated but has remained about 6.4 per year from 1990 to 2013.
“Railroad roadway worker deaths have increased over the past three years,” said NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher A. Hart. “This trend is unacceptable.”
Among the report’s findings are that comprehensive job briefings could help prevent accidents and that national inspection protocols for work activities are necessary to ensure the safety of roadway workers.
The NTSB issued recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration, the Federal Transit Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Fatality Analysis of Maintenance-of-Way Employees and Signalmen Committee. The recommendations call for additional training, harmonization of standards, a national inspection program and greater stakeholder participation in roadway worker fatalities, among other measures.
A summary of the special report is available at http://go.usa.gov/dZfj.

Railroad employees covered under National Railway Carriers/UTU Health and Welfare Plan or the Railroad Employees’ National Health and Welfare Plan were mailed a notification of the online open enrollment period that began Oct. 1, 2014, and ends Nov. 1, 2014. The information should be specific to the current enrollment for you and your eligible dependents.
The online enrollment capability provides the ability to view your personal information, add, delete and update dependent information, view enrollment materials, enroll in benefits for next year, and receive an immediate confirmation statement. There is no need to mail in a paper enrollment form. However, if you need assistance, have questions or require a paper enrollment kit, call Railroad Enrollment Services at (800) 753-2692.
The enrollment website can be found at https://www.yourtracktohealth.com (formerly known as the Railroad Information Depot).
You are encouraged to visit the online enrollment site and review all the information available. Use the log-in instructions at the end of this article to access and review your personal information and spend some time learning about the benefits and resources available on the site.
You will also be able to search medical provider networks.
It is required that covered dependent Social Security numbers (SSN) be provided to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Please supply the missing SSN on the Dependent Information screen.
If you are currently enrolled in the Health Flexible Spending Account, the election and yearly contribution will not rollover to the new plan year. You must enroll in your Health Flexible Spending Account every year.

  • Click “Login” located in the upper right corner of the screen.
  • If you have already registered, enter your username and password.
  • If you have not yet registered, select “New User?” at the bottom of the screen to complete your registration.

Once logged in, select the option to “Enroll Now for 2015,” located in the upper left corner of the screen.

SMART Transportation Division members employed by First Student, Inc., in Southeastern Pennsylvania have ratified a new three-year contract, retroactive to June 2014
The contract covers SMART members of Local 172 at Darby, Pa., working in school bus operations until June 30, 2017. Of the 92 votes cast, 55 were in favor of the agreement.
Members will receive a three percent wage increase across the board for each year of the contract, for a total of nine percent. Driver’s rates of pay will be paid on all charter work and on all van runs with the addition of a meal allowance for charters.
Also included in the contract is a provision increasing the number of allowable hours worked per week, up to 45. Management had previously discouraged employees from working more than 40 hours.
If during the year, an operator’s run hours are reduced by 20 percent or more, that operator will have the option to bump another driver from service whose hours exceed 40.
Also included in the contract is a provision that requires the company to immediately provide an employee with a debit card matching any payroll discrepancy of $50 or more. If a driver or monitor is displaced from a service run for any non-disciplinary reason, the driver will not suffer a loss in hourly pay.
“I thank Local 172 Vice Chairperson Denise Hall, Secretary Kathleen Sitongia and Chairperson Theresa Costantini for their dedication and hard work on this agreement,” Bus Vice President Calvin Studivant said.
Local 172 members chose the former United Transportation Union as their first collective bargaining representative approximately 10 years ago, when the property was unorganized.

SMART Transportation Division-represented trainmen and yardmasters employed by the Terminal Railroad Alabama State Docks have ratified a new six-year agreement by an overwhelming majority.
The new agreement provides for six, three percent annual general wage increases retroactive to April 1, 2012, with the final three percent general wage increase on April 1, 2017, resulting in a cumulative wage increase of 19.1 percent over the life of the agreement, with full back pay.
The agreement establishes a $5 certification pay for yard foreman, increases meal periods to thirty minutes with a one hour meal payment on certain assignments, provides a thirty minute training payment for yard foreman, helpers and yardmasters, and reduces the vacation qualifying years to 12 years for four weeks of vacation and 23 years for five weeks vacation.
The agreement provides for calculating paid military leave days as a start for five day work weeks and allows employees to bank up to 60 personal leave days.
Transportation Division Vice President Dave Wier, who assisted in negotiations, thanks General Chairperson Mark Cook (GO 898), Alabama State Legislative Director Neil Elders, Local 598 Chairperson Blake Kyser and Local 598 Vice Chairperson Billy Johns, “for putting forth exceptional effort in bringing the members’ concerns to the bargaining table and negotiating an agreement with substantial improvements in wages and working conditions.”

SMART Transportation Division-represented trainmen, engineers and yardmasters employed by Lake Terminal Railroad have ratified a new six-year agreement by a unanimous vote.
The agreement provides for six annual wage increases, beginning July 1, 2013, and rolls in previous cost-of-living adjustment increases, resulting in an 18.7 percent cumulative wage increase over the life of the contract.
It also includes lump sum back pay, establishes a $5 certification pay for conductors, engineers and remote control operators, increases carrier-matching contributions to 401(k) accounts to $1,300, and establishes an additional retirement account for new hires with a $75 monthly carrier contribution. There will be limits on employee health and welfare contributions to 12 percent of the plan costs and a freeze on co-pays and deductibles for the life of the contract.
SMART Transportation Division Vice President Dave Wier, who assisted with the negotiations, congratulates Lake Terminal General Chairperson Brad Elias and Local Chairperson Russ Tolson for “the exceptional effort put forth in bringing the members’ concerns to the bargaining table and negotiating an agreement with significant improvements in wages and working conditions.”

bus2SMART Transportation Division members employed by First Student, Inc., in Southeastern Pennsylvania have ratified a new three-year contract, retroactive to June 2014.

The contract covers SMART members of Local 172 at Darby, Pa., working in school bus operations until June 30, 2017. Of the 92 votes cast, 55 were in favor of the agreement.

Members will receive a three percent wage increase across the board for each year of the contract, for a total of nine percent. Driver’s rates of pay will be paid on all charter work and on all van runs with the addition of a meal allowance for charters.

Also provided in the contract is a provision increasing the number of allowable hours worked per week, up to 45. Management had previously discouraged employees from working more than 40 hours.

If during the year, an operator’s run hours are reduced by 20 percent or more, that operator will have the option to bump another driver from service whose hours exceed 40.

Also included in the contract is a provision that requires the company to immediately provide an employee with a debit card matching any payroll discrepancy of $50 or more. If a driver or monitor is displaced from a service run for any non-disciplinary reason, the driver will not suffer a loss in hourly pay.

“I thank Local 172 Vice Chairperson Denise Hall, Secretary Kathleen Sitongia and Chairperson Theresa Costantini for their dedication and hard work on this agreement,” Bus Vice President Calvin Studivant said.

Local 172 members chose the former United Transportation Union as their first collective bargaining representative approximately 10 years ago, when the property was unorganized.