A week after a CSX train hauling crude oil derailed and exploded 30 miles southeast of Charleston, W. Va., on Feb. 16, its mangled, charred tank cars were still being hauled from the crash site. Of the 27 cars that derailed, 19 had been engulfed in flames.
The wreckage burned for almost three days. “It’s amazing no one was killed,” says John Whitt, whose home is one of a handful clustered near the crash site, along the banks of the Kanawha River. Some were within 30 yards of the site. One home was destroyed.
Fiery wrecks of trains hauling crude oil have intensified pressure on the Obama administration to approve tougher standards for railroads and tank cars despite industry complaints that it could cost billions and slow freight deliveries.
On Feb. 5, the Transportation Department sent the White House draft rules that would require oil trains to use stronger tank cars and make other safety improvements.
The trustees of the SMART Voluntary Short-Term Disability program are pleased to announce that they have reached a tentative agreement with Anthem Life Insurance Co. on a group long-term disability plan for our bus and rail members.
The plan is intended to provide a seamless transition to long-term coverage for members when disability exceeds the short-term policy limits. Participation is voluntary.
The plans will offer various options for coverage and premium rates. Implementation will include an open-enrollment period that will allow members to enroll in a combination of short- and long-term disability coverage without any pre-existing condition exclusion.
Details regarding the implementation timeline, an explanation of the new benefit options and enrollment instructions for the long-term disability plan will be forthcoming shortly.
DENVER – A bipartisan bill designed to help grow economic opportunity and expand transportation options in southern Colorado cleared its first hurdle Feb. 24, passing the Senate Local Government Committee by a vote of 5-2. The bill, S.B. 15-176, would continue to provide needed transportation options so vital to southeastern Colorado in places like Lamar, La Junta, and Trinidad, but will also explore the economic benefits of adding a regular stop in Pueblo, Colo.
The bill has the support of the Transportation Division’s Colorado State Legislative Board, Legislative Director Carl Smith reports.
Smith said that SMART members will be at the state capitol March 2 to ask legislators to support the measure and other important labor legislation affecting working families in Colorado. He encourages all SMART members to participate. They will meet in the basement cafe of the capitol, located at 200 E. Colfax in Denver, at 9 a.m. Lunch will be provided by the state legislative board.
“The Southwest Chief is a lifeline for southern Colorado’s economy and I’m looking forward to possibilities of expanding service in the future,” said Sen. Leroy Garcia (D-Pueblo), co-prime sponsor of the bill. “I was pleased to see bipartisan support for this important rail line; it will be good for tourism and provide needed help to our rural economies in this region of Colorado.”
Sen. Garcia was a member of the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2014 and was the prime House sponsor of a bill – H.B. 14-1161 – establishing the Southwest Chief Rail Line Commission. The commission was tasked with ensuring rail line service would continue in Colorado.
The bill as written would appropriate $8.91 million in state General Fund money to the commission’s fund and modify some of the commission’s expenditure requirements from last year’s bill. Under this year’s bill, Amtrak would be required to explore the economic benefits of adding a stop in Pueblo to the services this vital line provides to Southeastern Colorado. Amtrak is already expected to explore the benefits of adding regular stops in Walsenburg.
Supporters of the bill include Pueblo County, ColoRail Association and Amtrak.
The bill will now move to the Senate Appropriations Committee for its next hearing.
The SMART Transportation Division’s National Safety Team has assigned one of its members to assist the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation of the crash and derailment of a Metrolink commuter train in Ventura County in California Feb. 24.
Twenty-eight people were injured, four of them critically, when the five-car Metrolink commuter train traveling from Ventura County to Los Angeles struck a truck on the tracks and derailed.
Safety Team Investigator Louis Costa of Local 1241 at Richmond, Calif., will assist the NTSB in determining the facts of the accident.
Safety Team members are selected by the SMART Transportation Division president based upon their knowledge of operating rules and understanding of general railroad operations, train movements and dispatching. When a major rail accident occurs, the NST coordinator immediately assigns one or more NST members to assist in the investigation.
The NTSB has sent a go-team to investigate yesterday’s accident in Oxnard, Calif. Robert Accetta is leading the team as investigator-in-charge. NTSB Board Member Robert L. Sumwalt is accompanying the team and will serve as the principal spokesman during the on-scene phase of the investigation.
A Federal Railroad Administration spokesperson said, “Federal Railroad Administration investigators are en route to the scene, and they will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the factors that contributed to this accident. Safety must be every railroad’s absolute top priority. We will establish what lapses, if any, occurred and order any necessary corrective actions.”
By Adhi Reddy, Transportation Division Vice President – Bus –
The year 2015 is a special one for our organization because we left our First SMART Convention as a united membership. Together, with one voice, we are a stronger body throughout the nation.
All of our newly elected representatives from the 2014 conventions have now taken office and I congratulate each of them on their elections. I also ask each of them to always do what is best for the membership. Most of our local elections, and some of our general committee of adjustment elections, have been completed. To the officers that have been elected or re-elected, congratulations.
As officers, we must always remember to do what is the best for our membership. Not only are we officers, but we are the membership as well. So, we must always think like a member first, then as an officer. Our decisions should be in the best interest of all. Also, don’t be afraid to ask others for advice if you are struggling with a decision.
We, your vice presidents, are only a request away from visiting your property. Your general chairperson or your local president may send a request to our Transportation Division president so that we can assist you in a variety of issues, including preparing contract proposals, negotiations, arbitrations and grievances. Remember, your Transportation Division officers are here to help.
We are currently working on guidelines to reduce dues for members in locals where earnings are reduced and hours may not be 40 per week. I will keep you updated about this effort.
On the local level, many of us may not pay much attention to our Legislative Department, which plays a major role in lawmaking efforts. I ask you to pay attention to their efforts and support them, on the state level and the national level, up to the White House. Please see your treasurer to enroll in UTU PAC, an investment in our future.
In many workplaces, discipline policies are getting tougher and tougher to follow, with new managers straight out of college, that never worked the jobs many of us do. If you are experiencing this issue, please talk to your local chairperson as soon as possible.
By John Previsich, SMART Transportation Division President –
On behalf of the officers and staff of the SMART Transportation Division, I will take this opportunity to thank our members and their families for all of their efforts in 2014 and to extend our best wishes for a safe and prosperous 2015. I am grateful for the support received from our delegates at the Transportation Division convention in San Diego and for the team of officers that were elected to serve this organization in the coming years.
As we look forward to continued progress in 2015, I want to first recognize the achievements and changes realized in our organization last year. First and foremost is the integration of the former UTU Constitution and the former SMWIA Constitution into the SMART Constitution, a complicated and time-consuming process that was concluded satisfactorily when approved by the delegates to the unified First SMART Convention in August. The new SMART Constitution is the guiding document for our union and the importance of a satisfactory consolidation cannot be over emphasized. Many thanks are owed to the General and TD officers and staff who dedicated their efforts over many meetings and months to reach a final outcome beneficial to all.
In addition to finalizing our new constitution, the delegates at both the TD Convention and the SMART Convention in August took action to prepare our organization for 2015 and beyond. We all know that effective representation is key to the continued success of our union, and the delegates approved initiatives to expand the ranks of the TD officer staff to include the addition of a second Bus Department vice president. This was done because our Bus Department is growing and we welcome the assistance that a new, full-time representative can provide to the organization. We now have additional help in organizing, contract-negotiating and grievance-handling matters.
Another key aspect of building for the future is a successful organizing effort and 2014 was an exceptionally good year for our Organizing Department. Their success, with assistance from the SMART Organizing Department and general committee, state legislative and local officers, has increased our membership significantly and we expect that trend to continue throughout 2015.
During 2014, the employees of at least four new bus properties chose SMART representation, along with those of seven shortline railroad properties. As noted in this issue of the newspaper, SMART recently was selected as the collective-bargaining representative by employees of Alliance Terminal Railroad, a rail property managed by OmniTRAX. The company manages more than a dozen shortline railroad properties throughout the United States and this is just the first of those to say, “We want your representation.” Our organizing success can be attributed in large part to our reputation for effective representation and 2014 was no exception. Our union reached agreements and received favorable arbitration awards on properties large and small all over the country. Especially noteworthy, significant and high profile successes were achieved in all three divisions of the transportation side of the organization.
First, members employed by the Long Island Rail Road approved a new agreement with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority following two Presidential Emergency Boards and a strenuous, near-strike state of affairs. Next, the members of our largest Bus Department general committee in Los Angeles approved a new contract with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Last and by no means least, our pilots employed by Great Lakes Aviation reached a new pact with management after a nearly three-year-long dispute, with assistance from the National Mediation Board.
Our reputation in reaching new agreements on rail, air and bus properties throughout the country is often mentioned by workers at newly organized properties as a key factor when they select the Transportation Division as their representative.
In 2015, we will initiate national negotiations with the rail industry. The national negotiating team, identified elsewhere in this newspaper, represents a mix of crafts, knowledge, age and experience unmatched in the industry. Rest assured that this team will do everything possible to achieve the favorable outcome that our members deserve. Our team, working in solidarity with five other unions, has already scheduled meetings with the carriers reaching into the summer and we look forward to working with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee to reach an agreement gainful to all.
Finally, our Legislative Department will continue efforts to defend our members’ interests inside the beltway of Washington and in every state house in the continental United States. The recent state and federal elections reinforced the need for a strong and effective legislative department. The push for national two-person crew legislation is continuing and our National Legislative Office in Washington is working with our state legislative directors in obtaining similar laws on the books at the state level. Read more about those efforts on the following page.
As noted in this and previous publications, the Transportation Division will resume its regional meetings in 2015. Please use these opportunities to educate yourself to assist your fellow members and build new relationships within the labor community. I look forward to meeting all members and officers at these events.
Let’s make 2015 a year to remember.
SALT LAKE CITY – Legislation to give the Utah Department of Transportation oversight of companies entrusted with transporting railroad crews between jobs barely advanced to a third Senate reading with a 15-12 vote.
At issue in SB127 is a loophole in the law that does not require the state to regulate safety inspections and driver capabilities for vans and sport utility vehicles that shuttle 15 passengers or less, said Sen. Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, who is sponsoring the bill.
Monthly benefits may be payable under the Railroad Retirement Act to the surviving widow(er), children, and certain other dependents of a railroad employee if the employee was “insured” under that act at the time of death. Lump-sum death benefits may also be payable to qualified survivors in some cases.
The following questions and answers describe the survivor benefits payable by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) and the eligibility requirements for these benefits.
1. What are the general service requirements for railroad retirement survivor benefits?
With the exception of one type of lump-sum death benefit, eligibility for survivor benefits depends on whether or not a deceased employee was “insured” under the Railroad Retirement Act. An employee is insured if he or she has at least 120 months (10 years) of railroad service, or 60 months (5 years) performed after 1995, and a “current connection” with the railroad industry as of the month the annuity begins or the month of death, whichever occurs first.
Generally, an employee who worked for a railroad in at least 12 months in the 30 months immediately preceding the month his or her railroad retirement annuity begins will meet the current connection requirement. If an employee dies before retirement, railroad service in at least 12 months in the 30 months before the month of death will meet the current connection requirement for the purpose of paying survivor benefits.
If an employee does not qualify on this basis, but has 12 months of service in an earlier 30-month period, he or she may still meet the current connection requirement. This alternative generally applies if the employee did not have any regular employment outside the railroad industry after the end of the last 30-month period which included 12 months of railroad service and before the month the annuity begins or the date of death.
Full or part-time work for a nonrailroad employer in the interval between the end of the last 30-month period including 12 months of railroad service and the beginning date of an employee’s annuity, or the month of death if earlier, can break a current connection.
Self-employment in an unincorporated business will not break a current connection; however, self-employment can break a current connection if the business is incorporated.
Working for certain U.S. Government agencies – Department of Transportation, National Transportation Safety Board, Surface Transportation Board, Transportation Security Administration, National Mediation Board, Railroad Retirement Board – will not break a current connection. State employment with the Alaska Railroad, so long as that railroad remains an entity of the State of Alaska, will not break a current connection. Also, railroad service in Canada for a Canadian railroad will neither break nor preserve a current connection.
A current connection can also be maintained, for purposes of supplemental and survivor annuities, if the employee completed 25 years of railroad service, was involuntarily terminated without fault from his or her last job in the rail industry on or after Oct. 1, 1975, and did not thereafter decline an offer of employment in the same class or craft in the rail industry, regardless of the distance to the new position.
Once a current connection is established at the time the railroad retirement annuity begins, an employee never loses it no matter what kind of work is performed thereafter.
2. What if these service requirements are not met?
If a deceased employee did not have an insured status, jurisdiction of any survivor benefits payable is transferred to the Social Security Administration and survivor benefits are paid by that agency instead of the RRB. Regardless of which agency has jurisdiction, the deceased employee’s railroad retirement and social security credits will be combined for benefit computation purposes.
3. What are the age and other eligibility requirements for widow(er)s?
Widow(er)s’ benefits are payable at age 60 or over. They are payable at any age if the widow(er) is caring for an unmarried child of the deceased employee under age 18 or a disabled child of any age who became permanently disabled before age 22. Widow(er)s’ benefits are also payable at ages 50-59 if the widow(er) is totally and permanently disabled and unable to work in any regular employment. The disability must have begun within 7 years after the employee’s death or within seven years after the termination of an annuity based on caring for a child of the deceased employee. In most cases, a 5-month waiting period is required after the onset of disability before disability payments can begin.
Generally, the widow(er) must have been married to the employee for at least nine months prior to death, unless she or he was the natural parent of their child, the employee’s death was accidental or while on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, the widow(er) was potentially entitled to certain railroad retirement or social security benefits in the month before the month of marriage, or the marriage was postponed due to State restrictions on the employee’s prior marriage and divorce due to mental incompetence or similar incapacity.
4. Can surviving divorced spouses and remarried widow(er)s also qualify for benefits?
Survivor benefits may also be payable to a surviving divorced spouse or remarried widow(er). Benefits are limited to the amount social security would pay and therefore are less than the amount of the survivor annuity otherwise payable by the RRB. However, a former spouse may be paid a court-ordered partition amount.
A surviving divorced spouse may qualify if she or he was married to the employee for at least 10 years, and is age 60 or older (age 50 if disabled). A surviving divorced spouse who is unmarried can qualify at any age if caring for the employee’s child and the child is under age 16 or disabled, in which case the 10-year marriage requirement does not apply. A widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse who remarries after age 60, or a disabled widow(er) or disabled surviving divorced spouse who remarries after age 50 may also receive the portion of a survivor annuity equivalent to a social security benefit (Tier I); however, remarriage prior to age 60 (or age 50 if disabled) would not prevent eligibility if that remarriage ended. Such social security level benefits may also be paid to a younger widow(er) or surviving divorced spouse caring for the employee’s child who is under age 16 or disabled, if the remarriage is to a person entitled to railroad retirement or social security benefits or the remarriage ends.
5. When are survivor benefits payable to children and other dependents?
Monthly survivor benefits are payable to an unmarried child under age 18, and to an unmarried child age 18 in full-time attendance at an elementary or secondary school, or in approved homeschooling, until the student attains age 19 or the end of the school term in progress when the student attains age 19. In most cases where a student attains age 19 during the school term, benefits are limited to the two months following the month age 19 is attained. These benefits will be terminated earlier if the student marries, graduates or ceases full-time attendance. An unmarried disabled child over age 18 may qualify if the child became totally and permanently disabled before age 22. An unmarried dependent grandchild meeting any of the requirements described above for a child may also qualify if both the grandchild’s parents are deceased or disabled.
Monthly survivor benefits are also payable to a surviving parent at age 60 who was dependent on the employee for at least half of the parent’s support. If the employee was also survived by a widow(er), surviving divorced spouse or child who could ever qualify for an annuity, the parent’s annuity is limited to the amount that Social Security would pay (Tier I).
6. How are railroad retirement widow(er)s’ benefits computed?
The Tier I amount of a two-tier survivor benefit is based on the deceased employee’s combined railroad retirement and social security earnings credits, and is computed using social security formulas. In general, the survivor Tier I amount is equal to the amount of survivor benefits that would have been payable under social security.
December 2001 legislation established an “initial minimum amount” which yields, in effect, a widow(er)’s Tier II benefit equal to the Tier II benefit the employee would have received at the time of the award of the widow(er)’s annuity, minus any applicable age reduction.
However, such a Tier II benefit will not receive annual cost-of-living increases until such time as the widow(er)’s annuity, as computed under prior law with all interim cost-of-living increases otherwise payable, exceeds the widow(er)’s annuity as computed under the initial minimum amount formula.
The average annuity awarded to widow(er)s in fiscal year 2014, excluding remarried widow(er)s and surviving divorced spouses, was $1,976 a month. Children received $1,294 a month, on the average. Total family benefits for widow(er)s with children averaged $3,771 a month. The average annuity awarded to remarried widow(er)s or surviving divorced spouses in fiscal year 2014 was $1,104 a month.
A widow(er) who received a spouse annuity from the RRB is guaranteed that the amount of any widow(er)’s benefit payable will never be less than the annuity she or he was receiving as a spouse in the month before the employee died.
7. Are survivor benefits subject to any reduction for early retirement or disability retirement?
A widow(er), surviving divorced spouse or remarried widow(er) whose annuity begins at full retirement age or later receives the full Tier I amount unless the deceased employee received an annuity that was reduced for early retirement. The eligibility age for a full widow(er)’s annuity is gradually rising from age 65 to age 67. The maximum age reductions will range from 17.1 percent to 20.36 percent, depending on the widow(er)’s date of birth. For a surviving divorced spouse or remarried widow(er), the maximum age reduction is 28.5 percent. For a disabled widow(er), disabled surviving divorced spouse or disabled remarried widow(er), the maximum reduction is 28.5 percent, even if the annuity begins at age 50.
8. Are these benefits subject to offset for the receipt of other benefits?
Under the Railroad Retirement Act, the Tier I portion of a survivor annuity is subject to reduction if any social security benefits are also payable, even if the social security benefit is based on the survivor’s own earnings. This reduction follows the principles of social security law which, in effect, limit payment to the highest of any two or more benefits payable to an individual at one time.
The Tier I portion of a widow(er)’s annuity may also be reduced for the receipt of any Federal, State or local government pension based on the widow(er)’s own earnings. The reduction generally does not apply if the employment on which the public pension is based was covered under the Social Security Act throughout the last 60 months of public employment. However, most military service pensions and payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs will not cause a reduction. For those subject to the public pension reduction, the Tier I reduction is equal to 2/3 of the amount of the public pension.
A survivor annuitant should notify the RRB promptly if she or he becomes entitled to any such benefits.
9. What if a widow(er) was also a railroad employee and is eligible for a railroad retirement employee annuity as well as monthly survivor benefits?
If both the widow(er) and the deceased employee started railroad employment after 1974, the survivor annuity payable to the widow(er) is reduced by the amount of the employee annuity.
If either the deceased employee or the survivor annuitant had some service before 1975 but had not completed 120 months of railroad service before 1975, the employee annuity and the Tier II portion of the survivor annuity would be payable to the widow(er). The Tier I portion of the survivor annuity would be payable only to the extent that it exceeds the Tier I portion of the employee annuity.
A special guaranty applies if either the deceased employee or the survivor annuitant completed 120 months of railroad service before 1975. In effect, the widow, or dependent widower, would receive both an employee annuity and a survivor benefit, without a full dual benefit reduction.
10. What types of lump-sum death benefits are payable under the Railroad Retirement Act?
A lump-sum death benefit is payable to certain survivors of an employee with 10 or more years of railroad service, or less than 10 years if at least five years were after 1995, and a current connection with the railroad industry if there is no survivor immediately eligible for a monthly annuity upon the employee’s death.
If the employee did not have 10 years of service before 1975, the lump sum is limited to $255 and is payable only to the widow(er) living in the same household as the employee at the time of the employee’s death.
If the employee had less than 10 years of service but had five years after 1995, he or she must have met social security’s insured status requirements for the lump sum to be payable.
If the employee had 10 years of service before 1975, the lump sum is payable to the living-with widow(er). If there is no such widow(er), the lump sum may be paid to the funeral home or the payer of the funeral expenses. These lump sums averaged $1,013 in fiscal year 2014.
The railroad retirement system also provides, under certain conditions, a residual lump-sum death benefit which ensures that a railroad family receives at least as much in benefits as the employee paid in railroad retirement taxes before 1975. This benefit is, in effect, a refund of an employee’s pre-1975 railroad retirement taxes, after subtraction of any benefits previously paid on the basis of the employee’s service. This benefit is seldom payable.
11. How does a person get an estimate of, or apply for, survivor benefits?
Active or retired employees who are concerned about the amount of benefits which would be payable to their survivors may receive estimates from the nearest RRB field office.
Applications for railroad retirement or survivor benefits are generally filed at one of the RRB’s field offices, or with an RRB representative at one of the office’s Customer OutReach Program (CORP) service locations, or by telephone and mail. Persons can contact an office of the RRB by calling toll free at (877) 772-5772 or at www.rrb.gov. Most agency offices are open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except on federal holidays.