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Risch

By John Risch, 
National Legislative Director – 

Thanks to all of you who helped in our Get Out the Vote Campaign. Your generosity with your PAC contributions, emails and direct mail efforts, volunteer phone calling, door knocking, and your conversations with friends and fellow members made a difference in many races. Even where our endorsed candidates didn’t prevail, your efforts were not in vain. Rather, it showed that we were engaged and that we are an organization that supports those that support us.

Clearly the results from Tuesday’s elections were not what many of us had hoped. We lost some good friends like Rep. Nick Rahall (D) in West Virginia and Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas (D).

Now our job begins to build relationships with the newly elected members of Congress, whether they are Democrat or Republican. Anthony Simon, our Long Island Rail Road general chairperson, has already reached out to two newly elected Republican congressmen in New York and is setting up introductory meetings.

Special thanks go to Dean Mitchell, our GOTV coordinator, for his hundreds of hours of work on direct mail pieces, robocalls and polling. He worked with our legislative boards to make sure our members were informed as to why we endorsed the candidates we did and helped with early and absentee voting.

Dean also helped with polling and direct mail that made a big difference in the re-election of two good Republican friends, Reps. Chris Gibson and Michael Grimm, both of New York.

Thanks also goes to Phillip Qualy, our Minnesota state legislative director, and his team, that did a phenomenal job of holding back a tough challenge against our friend, Rep. Rick Nolan (D), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

There is no escaping the reality that the incoming Congress will be less supportive of issues important to our members than the existing Congress. It will be harder to pass a two-person train crew bill and it will be harder to secure adequate funding for Amtrak, transit, essential air service and the National Mediation Board.

This simply means we have to work harder to make our case for all of these things. A first step is for our state legislative directors to meet with the newly elected members and make the case for issues that are important to us.

We don’t have the power to win political elections on our own and this election proved that. What we do have is an obligation to work hard and do the best job that we can for our members. That’s my plan moving forward. With the help of Greg Hynes, our alternate national legislative director, our staff and our state legislative boards, we can protect the interests of our members just as our union has done for more than 100 years.

Amtrak LogoConstruction of new Amtrak tunnels and several allied projects to New York could cost an estimated $16 billion and under the most optimistic scenario could take up to a decade to build.

“It could be done in seven years if we put some incentives on it,” Amtrak president Joseph Boardman said during an interview with the Star-Ledger editorial board. “We’re looking at a minimum of seven years to 11 years. That’s from the time we get a go-ahead.”

Read the complete story at NJ.com.

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Szabo

After nearly six years serving as chief of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration, Joe Szabo is stepping down in January.

In a statement to FRA staff, Szabo said, “I will head home to accept a position as a senior fellow for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. In my new capacity, I’ll work with the region’s local elected officials, the Illinois General Assembly, the freight and passenger rail industry, organized labor, and logistic firms, and other metropolitan regions on transportation planning and programming.

“It is a role that allows me to return to my roots in local government, to serve as a senior advisor on transportation policy, and – from Chicago – continue to advance the safe, efficient, and reliable movement of people and goods for a strong America, just like we’ve done together here at FRA.”

“It has been an honor to serve my President, former Secretary Ray LaHood and Secretary Anthony Foxx.”

Nominated March 20, 2009, and confirmed by the United States Senate on April 29, 2009, Szabo is the twelfth Administrator of the FRA and the first to come from the ranks of rail workers.

Prior to becoming FRA administrator, Szabo served as the former United Transportation Union’s Illinois state legislative director.

He also served as vice president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, mayor of Riverdale, Ill., and vice chairman of the Chicago Area Transportation Study’s Executive Committee. In 2002, he chaired the governor’s Freight Rail Sub-Committee and, in 2005, was assigned by the UTU to the FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), where he participated in the development of rail-safety regulations.

As FRA administrator, he is the principal advisor to the secretary of the U.S. DOT on railroad affairs and other transportation matters, where he helped set freight and passenger rail policy and safety regulations and initiatives.

“Our work is not done until new record bests in safety are achieved,” Szabo said in his statement. “As a 38-year veteran of the rail industry – one who worked out in the ranks – the most meaningful improvement to me was the dramatic drop in employee fatalities to a new record low. Over the course of my railroad career, I’ve lost five good friends to on-duty fatalities and, like most rail workers, survived my share of close calls in the workplace.”

“In 2008, the year before I came to FRA, 26 rail workers perished in on duty fatalities – a rate of more than two per month. Through your good work, we drove that down to a record low number of 14 employee fatalities in 2013 – still too many, but a remarkable improvement. Now, 10 months into 2014, we are at five fatalities for the year and getting so close to the ultimate goal of zero. I’m counting on the practices we’ve put into place, particularly proactive programs like Confidential Close Calls Reporting, to get us to zero in 2015.”

 

union_pacific_logoUnion Pacific Railroad has boosted hiring plans and aims to add 200 new locomotives next year to improve network congestion, the company said at an investor conference Wednesday in Chicago.

“We have been short of train crews,” acknowledged Chief Operating Officer Lance Fritz, speaking at the conference. “We have more than doubled the hiring we originally planned.”

Read the complete story at the Omaha World-Herald.

healthcarenews2During November and December 2014, UnitedHealthcare will hold an open enrollment under Group Policy GA-23111. During this period, any individual who is eligible for coverage under one of the GA-23111 plans can enroll and will be accepted for coverage without any medical underwriting or requirement of good health.yourtracktohealth

There are no limitations for pre-existing conditions. Enrollment in November and December 2014 will be for coverage effective Jan. 1, 2015. Only those applicants whose completed enrollment form is postmarked in November 2014 or December 2014 will be considered for open enrollment.

This open enrollment is being held for former railroad employees (and their dependents) who:

  • Were previously covered under any railroad health plan and were represented by a railway labor organization or,
  • Were members in accordance with the constitution or by-laws of one of the participating railway labor organizations, when coverage under their applicable group health plan ended.

If someone you know meets these GA-23111 eligibility provisions, open enrollment provides an opportunity for them to become covered. Other eligible members of your family may also enroll if they are not currently covered. In addition, open enrollment under Plan F is available for railroad employees’ parents or parents-in-law who are eligible under Medicare.

Anyone interested in enrolling should call one of the following phone numbers to get additional information about these plans:

  • For persons eligible for Medicare, call (800) 809-0453;
  • For persons not eligible for Medicare, call (800) 842-5252.

Visit YourTracktoHealth.com to download an enrollment form and view plan rates.

RRB_seal_150pxRailroad retirement annuitants subject to earnings restrictions can earn more in 2015 without having their benefits reduced as a result of increases in earnings limits indexed to average national wage increases.

Like Social Security benefits, some railroad retirement benefit payments are subject to deductions if an annuitant’s earnings exceed certain exempt amounts. These earnings restrictions apply to those who have not attained full social security retirement age. For employee and spouse annuitants, full retirement age ranges from age 65 for those born before 1938 to age 67 for those born in 1960 or later. For survivor annuitants, full retirement age ranges from age 65 for those born before 1940 to age 67 for those born in 1962 or later.

For those under full retirement age throughout 2015, the exempt earnings amount rises to $15,720 from $15,480 in 2014. For beneficiaries attaining full retirement age in 2015, the exempt earnings amount, for the months before the month full retirement age is attained, rises to $41,880 in 2015 from $41,400 in 2014.

For those under full retirement age, the earnings deduction is $1 in benefits for every $2 of earnings over the exempt amount. For those attaining full retirement age in 2015, the deduction is $1 for every $3 of earnings over the exempt amount in the months before the month full retirement age is attained.

When applicable, these earnings deductions are assessed on the tier I and vested dual benefit portions of railroad retirement employee and spouse annuities, and the Tier I, Tier II, and vested dual benefit portions of survivor benefits.

All earnings received for services rendered, plus any net earnings from self-employment, are considered when assessing deductions for earnings. Interest, dividends, certain rental income, or income from stocks, bonds, or other investments are not considered earnings for this purpose.

Retired employees and spouses, regardless of age, who work for their last pre-retirement non-railroad employer are also subject to an additional earnings deduction, in their tier II and supplemental benefits, of $1 for every $2 in earnings up to a maximum reduction of 50 percent. This earnings restriction does not change from year to year and does not allow for an exempt amount.

A spouse benefit is subject to reduction not only for the spouse’s earnings, but also for the earnings of the employee, regardless of whether the earnings are from service for the last pre-retirement non-railroad employer or other post-retirement employment.

Special work restrictions continue to be applicable to disability annuitants in 2015. The monthly disability earnings limit increases to $850 in 2015 from $840 in 2014.

Regardless of age and/or earnings, no railroad retirement annuity is payable for any month in which an annuitant (retired employee, spouse or survivor) works for a railroad employer or railroad union.

RRB_seal_150pxMost railroad retirement annuities, like Social Security benefits, are scheduled to increase in January 2015 on the basis of the rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the third quarter of 2013 to the corresponding period of the current year.

Cost-of-living increases are calculated in both the Tier I and Tier II benefits included in a railroad retirement annuity. Tier I benefits, like social security benefits, will increase by 1.7 percent, which is the percentage of the CPI rise. Tier II benefits will increase by 0.6 percent, which is 32.5 percent of the CPI rise. The vested dual benefit payments and supplemental annuities also paid by the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) are not adjusted for the CPI rise.

In January 2015, the average regular railroad retirement employee annuity will increase $34 a month to $2,537 and the average of combined benefits for an employee and spouse will increase $48 a month to $3,666. For those aged widow(er)s eligible for an increase, the average annuity will increase $20 a month to $1,310. However, widow(er)s whose annuities are being paid under the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act of 2001 will not receive annual cost-of-living adjustments until their annuity amount is exceeded by the amount that would have been paid under prior law, counting all interim cost-of-living increases otherwise payable. Some 39 percent of the widow(er)s on the RRB’s rolls are being paid under the 2001 law.

If a railroad retirement or survivor annuitant also receives a social security or other government benefit, such as a public service pension, the increased Tier I benefit is reduced by the increased government benefit. However, Tier II cost-of-living increases are not reduced by increases in other government benefits. If a widow(er) whose annuity is being paid under the 2001 law is also entitled to an increased government benefit, her or his railroad retirement survivor annuity may decrease.

However, the total amount of the combined railroad retirement widow(er)’s annuity and other government benefits will not be less than the total payable before the cost-of-living increase and any increase in Medicare premium deductions.

The standard Medicare Part B premium generally deducted from monthly benefits will not increase in 2015, as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced that it would be the same as the 2014 amount. 

In late December the RRB will mail notices to all annuitants providing a breakdown of the annuity rates payable to them in January 2015.

oil-train-railThree days after an oil train derailed and exploded in 2013 in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing 47 people, Greg Saxton wandered through the disaster site inspecting tank cars.

For Saxton, the damage was personal. Some of the tank cars were built by Greenbrier, an Oregon-based manufacturer where he’s chief engineer. Almost every car that derailed was punctured, some in multiple places. Crude oil flowed from the gashes, fueling the flames, covering the ground, and running off into nearby waterways.

Read the complete story at National Geographic.

 

Minnesota_mapGov. Mark Dayton on Monday, Nov. 17 will convene a Rail Summit with railroad, agriculture, and industry leaders from across Minnesota.

Elected officials, emergency managers, and key members of the Governor’s Cabinet will also participate in the discussion.

Read the complete story at Hometownsource.com.