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Simon

Following the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Jan. 15 announcement that it is rejecting a proposed series of wage increases for unionized employees on the Long Island Rail Road, SMART Transportation Division General Committee of Adjustment GO 505 has signaled that its members are prepared to strike as early as March 21.

The wage increases and other recommendations were the findings of Presidential Emergency Board 244, which was appointed by President Barack Obama to settle a long-running dispute between LIRR management and its unionized employees.

“With the guidance and support of our SMART International Union, along with the teamwork and solidarity of our brothers and sisters from the sheet metal side of SMART, the Transportation Communications Union and the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers, 70 percent of the represented workforce on LIRR is prepared to deliver on the actions allowable by the process of self-help, as per the Railway Labor Act,” said GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon.

“In addition, we have the support of Transport Workers Union Local 100, which demonstrates an overwhelming sign of solidarity from labor to MTA.”

“Due to the MTA’s unwillingness to accept the recommendations of PEB 244, and without their request for a second board, our labor coalition is prepared to strike as early as March 21. While we have said time and time again that this is not what labor wants for the riders at the MTA, it will be the sole result of the MTA’s unwillingness to take the next step.”

The three board members recommended that the LIRR pay wage increases totaling 18.4 percent over six years (2.9 percent per year) and that employees begin contributing to health insurance premium costs. After factoring in the recommended employee health insurance contributions, the board’s recommendations will produce net wage increases of 2.5 percent per year.

The board’s wage recommendations are retroactive to the first year of the contract dispute, which has been ongoing for more than three years. The board rejected MTA’s demand that workers accept three years of net zero wage increases, followed by two, two-percent increases over five years.

The board also rejected MTA’s demand for major concessions in pensions, including a permanent five-percent employee contribution.

In its recommendations issued Dec. 22, the PEB said the wage increases were comparable to recent commuter settlements in large cities like Chicago and Boston.

Simon said that since its Jan. 15 announcement, the MTA has refused to say if it would seek a second PEB and has declined to meet with him or leaders of any of the other affected unions in the bargaining group.

“Strong leadership requires strong action. Now is the time our SMART membership, and the membership of our supporting unions, realize that we are ready to deliver. Ready for March 21 … or with MTA action, ready for the next step.”

“We need the full support of our members and their full trust in their leadership. The-long standing battle cry for labor has never been more true, ‘progress through unity.’”

To view the complete PEB report, click here.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation collects relatively small civil penalties against the railroads it regulates, as concern grows over the safety of shipping large volumes of crude oil and ethanol in tank cars long known to be deficient, federal documents show.

A McClatchy review of annual enforcement reports shows that the Federal Railroad Administration rarely fines any company more than $25,000, though it’s authorized to collect a maximum of $175,000 per violation. Some fines are as little as $250, and most settlements are substantially lower than the agency had first proposed.

Read the complete story at the Sun Herald.

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Herb Krohn

SMART Transportation Division Washington State Legislative Director Herb Krohn reports that a two-person rail crew bill has been introduced in both houses of the state legislature.

H.B. 2718, introduced in the House of Representatives, has 26 sponsors. The primary sponsor is Rep. Larry Haler (R), and the first co-sponsor is Rep. Brian Blake (D).

S.B. 6473, introduced in the Senate, has 16 sponsors. The primary sponsor is Sen. Jan Angel (R) and the first co-sponsor is Sen. Don Benton (R).

The bills can be read in their entirety at http://www.leg.wa.gov/pages/home.aspx by entering the bill numbers.

Krohn said the Washington State Legislative Board is also monitoring two other House bills that affect SMART TD members.

H.B. 1620, the Contract Crew Hauler Transport Safety Bill, passed out of the House Transportation Committee Jan. 30 by a vote of 30-0, with one member absent. “This is a stronger vote than last year. The bill now moves on to the House Rules Committee and, hopefully, onto the floor for a vote by the full house very soon,” Krohn said.

H.B. 1621, the Yardmaster Hours of Service Bill, is in the House Rules Committee. “We need to get this bill pulled by members of the Rules Committee to get it to the floor,” Krohn said.

SAN FRANCISCO – The California Supreme Court ordered an appeals court Wednesday to undertake a fast-track review of two rulings that could disrupt financing of the voter-approved bullet train.

In a brief order signed by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the state high court transferred a challenge to the rulings by Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration to the intermediate Court of Appeal in Sacramento and ordered written arguments to be completed by Feb. 10.

Read the complete story at the Los Angeles Times.

FORT DODGE, Iowa –Great_Lakes_Airlines_logo_150px Great Lakes Airlines will end Minneapolis flights from Fort Dodge, the only commercial airline service available at the north-central Iowa airport.

The company said it also is suspending service to Mason City in northern Iowa and in Devils Lake and Jamestown, N.D.; Ironwood, Mich.; and Thief River Falls, Minn. The airline is based in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Read the complete story at Omaha.com.

Regulators proposed a streamlined process for American Indian tribes to complete reviews that railroads have said make it difficult to meet deadlines for finishing the biggest rail-safety project in U.S. history.

Tribes would get less time to review, for historic significance, proposed locations for 22,000 U.S. communications antennae and would need to accept bulk applications for all equipment proposed in a county, the Federal Communications Commission said in a notice posted on its website yesterday.

Read the complete story at Bloomberg Businessweek.

DEERFIELD, Mass. – An East Deerfield Rail Yard employee was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield by LifeFlight helicopter Tuesday after suffering a severe leg injury while working along the railroad tracks.

After the accident, Baystate reported the employee, Robert Charboneau of Greenfield, was in fair condition.

(Charboneau is a member of SMART Transportation Division Local 587 at Greenfield, Mass.)

Read the complete story at The Recorder.

Beer freezes at around 13 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s Bill Diamond’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen. Not on his watch, at least.

Mr. Diamond, 56, is a train conductor for Union Pacific Railroad Co. at the Proviso Yard in west suburban Northlake. He’s been on the railroad for 37 years, after a summer job to save money for college turned permanent. For the past 12 years he’s been in charge of the yard’s biggest customer, delivering cars of Grupo Modelo S.A.B de C.V. beer—Corona, Modelo Especial, Pacifico and Victoria—that have snaked their way by rail from Piedras Negras, Mexico, to a nearby warehouse, or “the beer house,” as they call it, operated by Grand Worldwide Logistics Corp. of Chicago.

(Bill Diamond is a member of SMART Transportation Division Local 577 at Northlake, Ill.)

Read the complete story at Crain’s Chicago Business.

With the Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line groundbreaking last week, Los Angeles now has three rail transit projects under construction — an example of how the city is leading the country in a rail renaissance.

The “city that destroyed cities,” as GQ recently described L.A. for pioneering auto-oriented development, has been planning and building a multibillion-dollar rail network, thanks in part to up to $13 billion in local sales tax funds from a successful 2008 measure.

Raed the complete story at the Los Angeles Times.

oil-train-railLawmakers are calling for a comprehensive review of the nation’s rules that govern freight rail shipments of crude oil cargo following a string of rail accidents in recent months, and after receiving a warning from safety regulators that inaction could lead to a “major loss of life.”

Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) are pushing the Department of Transportation (DOT) to enact more stringent rules for oil-by-rail shipments, in the wake of a December derailment in their home state that spilled 400,000 gallons of crude oil.

Read the complete story at The Hill.