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The UTU’s fourth Federal Railroad Administration sponsored risk-reduction pilot project, known as “Confidential Close Call Reporting System” (C3RS), has been formalized in a memorandum of understanding among the UTU, Amtrak and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

 As its name implies, the pilot project permits conductors, engineers, trainmen and yardmasters to report — voluntarily, confidentially and without fear of carrier discipline or FRA enforcement action — close call events that might have resulted in an accident or injury.
 
Examples of close calls include varying levels of risk, such as leaving pieces of equipment unsecured, improper blocking, operating trains beyond track authority, or violating operating rules.

The close call events will be reported confidentially to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which has years of experience with similar risk-reduction projects. NASA will mask the identity of those involved before passing on the information for collaborative study among regional peer review teams selected from carrier management, the FRA, the UTU and the BLET.

The regional peer review teams will strive to identify risks that might be reduced or eliminated through corrective action, such as improved training, changes in physical plant, changes in existing federal safety laws or regulations, or changes in carrier operating rules.

The Amtrak Confidential Close Call Reporting System will be implemented nationwide at most Amtrak yard operations.

The UTU already is engaged in pilot confidential close call reporting projects with New Jersey Transit, systemwide; Union Pacific at North Platte, Neb.; and Canadian Pacific at Portage, Wis.

“Non-punitive reporting produces safety data that could not otherwise be obtained while helping to identify and mitigate risks before another serious incident occurs,” said UTU International Vice President John Previsich, who helped negotiate the Amtrak Confidential Close Call Reporting System memorandum of understanding on behalf of the UTU.

Previsich recognized the support and leadership, in their territories, of UTU General Chairpersons Roger Lenfest (GO 769) and Robert Keeley (GO 342).

UTU International President Mike Futhey praised Amtrak President Joseph Boardman for “his hands-on involvement and commitment in expanding this project nationwide on Amtrak.”

Separately, Amtrak has initiated another safety project — the Safe-2-Safer program — which examines Amtrak’s operating culture to identify improved leadership practices and workplace behavior that can improve workplace safety.

This is a final effort to collect dependent Social Security numbers to comply with new federal law for all medical plans including:

  • The Railroad Employees National Health and Welfare Plan; and
  • The National Railway Carriers and United Transportation Health and Welfare Plan

Federal Law now requires the reporting of Social Security numbers (SSNs) for covered dependents to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

This includes participants of all medical plans, including the railroad plans listed above.

In addition, if a covered dependent is eligible for Medicare, then the Medicare Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) is also required.

To comply with these reporting requirements, Railroad Enrollment Services has mailed a final notice to those members identified with missing dependent SSNs and/or HICNs.

If you have received a notice from Railroad Enrollment Services, please provide the SSN and/or HICN for any dependent who is listed as missing this information.

Be sure to sign, date and return the Social Security Number Reporting Form by the requested return date to the address provided.

If you do not receive a notice requesting missing dependent SSNs and/or HICNs, then you do not need to take any action at this time.

The following will occur if the requested SSNs are not provided for any dependent added to the plan before Jan. 1, 2009:

If Railroad Enrollment Services does not receive the Social Security number for any dependent whose SSN is missing by Jan. 31, 2011, the dependent(s) will be DISENROLLED from the plan effective Jan. 31, 2011.

Be assured that when Railroad Enrollment Services transmits the SSNs and/or HICNs to CMS, they will maintain all physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard your personal information.

For additional information regarding the new CMS federal law pertaining to this requirement, visit www.cms.hhs.gov/MandatoryInsRep/.

If you have questions, or need another copy of the notification sent to you, call Railroad Enrollment Services at 800-753-2692.

Additionally, there will be an opportunity to provide missing dependent SSNs and/or HICNs during the 2011 Annual Open Enrollment process in the month of October. 

One of the jewels of the Obama health care reform plan passed into law by Congress earlier this year allows certain dependent children to remain on an employee’s health care insurance plan until age 26 without regard to student, marital, residence of financial dependent status.

This provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act becomes effective Jan. 1, 2011, but only if enrollment is accomplished during a special 30-day enrollment period.

Complete information on the eligible dependent child provision, and elimination of the lifetime maximum benefit limits on the railroad national health and welfare plans, will be detailed in the annual re-enrollment packet railroad employees will be receiving from UnitedHealthcare in the next few weeks.

Members not covered by national rail plans — which includes UTU Bus Department and Airline Department members —  should check with their employers regarding what actions may be necessary to ensure dependent children under 26 remain covered on their employer-provided heath care insurance plans.

As for UTU-represented railroad employees, It is essential you open the packet from UnitedHealthcare and review the information carefully when it arrives, as failure to complete and return the required information in the required time period could result in a missed opportunity to enroll your eligible dependent child.

The law requires that the addition to health care insurance plans of eligible dependent children under age 26 be accomplished within the 30-day special enrollment period.

Failure to complete and return the required information could result in eligible dependent children being denied coverage.

If you retired from railroad service on or after April 1, 1967, you may be eligible for a $2,000 retiree life insurance benefit.

Benefits are administered by MetLife for all retirees from railroads participating in the National Railway Carriers’ / UTU Health & Welfare Plan and the Railroad Employees’ National Health and Welfare Plan (formerly GA-23000).

To file a claim, or to obtain a change-of-beneficiary card, call the following toll-free number:

MetLife (800) 310-7770

Those who retire on disability are urged to contact MetLife soon after their retirement to ensure their eligibility for this benefit.

Retirees are urged to keep this notice with their other important documents and to keep the designated beneficiary up to date.

When filing a claim, it will be very helpful to know the date the employee last worked, the name of the employing railroad, and the employee’s Social Security number. These items will assist in the prompt processing of claims.

By Assistant President Arty Martin

For more than 40 years, the UTU has been instrumental in improving job security, wages, benefits and safe working conditions.

To achieve that success, the UTU has always relied on the membership to step forward to rebuild elected officers’ ranks — from the local through the UTU International president.

Every aspect of our society — from neighborhood associations, local school boards, Congress and the White House — relies on the same process to ensure our society continues to thrive, grow and be successful. We can neither forget this nor let “the rebuild from within” concept die, or we will lose control of our futures.

When President John F. Kennedy took his oath of office in 1961 — at age 43, succeeding 70-year-old Dwight Eisenhower — Kennedy noted, “The torch has been passed to a new generation.”

JFK and his new generation of leaders were prepared to lead because of mentoring they received early in their careers.

Each of today’s UTU leaders has a moral obligation to identify and mentor talented younger members, beginning with assisting them in running for local office. Not all will be successful. But this is the process by which we identify those who, in the future, will lead general committees, state legislative boards and the UTU International.

I’m not suggesting older leaders head for the exits. I’m among the oldest, and I assure you I have no intention of departing anytime soon. But depart I will at some date, and my duty — and the duty of our other higher ranking UTU officers — is to identify and mentor qualified successors.

Each of our UTU International officers can trace their rise to the day they took an oath of office at their local —  and each can name a mentor who helped bring them along. Representing our brothers and sisters can be some of the hardest work we perform — and certainly the most rewarding when we realize our efforts help to improve wages, benefits, job security and safe working conditions.

Successful officers at the local level demonstrate early whether they have the internal compass and fortitude to do right by their members, whether it is taking on an inexperienced trainmaster with an outsized ego or processing a difficult grievance against an aggressive carrier officer.

The future of the UTU — and more important, the future job and financial security of our members — rests with a seamless process that assures members continue to receive excellent representation when new officers succeed those who retire or move up in the organization.

Because new technology is evolving so quickly, special new challenges await tomorrow’s leaders. Most of us began our careers when a caboose trailed every train and computers were something we read about in Mechanix Illustrated. Tomorrow’s railroads and tomorrow’s buses will be chock-a-block with computer technology tied to orbiting satellites.

I urge each of our senior officers at the International, general committees and state legislative boards to ramp-up the process of identifying and mentoring younger members with potential to become successful officers. The future of the UTU depends on it.

The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is required by law to submit annual reports to Congress on the financial condition of the railroad retirement system and the railroad unemployment insurance system. These reports must also include recommendations for any financing changes which may be advisable in order to ensure the solvency of the systems. In June, the RRB submitted its 2010 reports on the railroad retirement and railroad unemployment insurance systems.

The following questions and answers summarize the findings of these reports.

1. What were the assets of the railroad retirement and railroad unemployment insurance systems last year?

As of September 30, 2009, total railroad retirement system assets, comprising assets managed by the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust and the railroad retirement system accounts at the Treasury, equaled $24.6 billion. The Trust was established by the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act of 2001 to manage and invest railroad retirement assets. The cash balance of the railroad unemployment insurance system was $47.6 million at the end of fiscal year 2009.

2. What was the conclusion of the 2010 report on the financial condition of the railroad retirement system?

The conclusion was that, barring a sudden, unanticipated, large drop in railroad employment or substantial investment losses, the railroad retirement system will experience no cash-flow problems during the next 23 years. The long-term stability of the system, however, is not assured. Under the current financing structure, actual levels of railroad employment and investment return over the coming years will determine whether additional corrective action is necessary.

3. What methods were used in forecasting the financial condition of the railroad retirement system?

The valuation projected the various components of income and outgo of the railroad retirement system under three employment assumptions, intended to provide an optimistic, intermediate and pessimistic outlook, respectively, for the 25 calendar years 2010-2034. The projections of these components were combined and the investment income calculated to produce the projected balances in the railroad retirement accounts at the end of each projection year.

Projecting income and outgo under optimistic, intermediate and pessimistic employment assumptions, the valuation indicated no cash-flow problems occur throughout the 25-year projection period under the optimistic and intermediate assumptions. Cash-flow problems do occur under the pessimistic assumption but not until 2033, 23 years from now.

4. How do the results of the 2010 report compare with those of the 2009 report?

The projected combined account balances are higher through calendar year 2025 under each employment assumption than in last year’s report. Under the optimistic and intermediate employment assumptions, the account balances are lower at the end of the current projection period due to lower taxes in some earlier years.

The favorable comparison with last year was largely due to actual investment return of approximately 24.3 percent exceeding the expected investment return of 7.5 percent in calendar year 2009, and to a lesser extent due to a lower estimated cost-of-living adjustment for 2011 in this year’s report. This was offset by lower projected employment and a lower estimated wage increase for 2009 in this year’s report.

5. Did the 2010 report on the railroad retirement system recommend any railroad retirement payroll tax rate changes?

The report did not recommend any change in the rate of tax imposed by current law on employers and employees. The absence of projected cash-flow problems for at least 23 years under each employment assumption indicated that an immediate increase in the tax rate schedule is not required.

6. What were the findings of the 2010 report on the financial condition of the railroad unemployment insurance system?

The RRB’s 2010 railroad unemployment insurance financial report was also generally favorable. Even as maximum benefit rates increase 39 percent (from $64 to $89) from 2009 to 2020, experience-based contribution rates are expected to keep the unemployment insurance system solvent, except for short-term cash-flow problems in 2010 and 2011 under all assumptions. However, projections show a quick repayment of any loans even under the most pessimistic assumption.

Unemployment levels are the single most significant factor affecting the financial status of the railroad unemployment insurance system. However, the system’s experience-rating provisions, which adjust contribution rates for changing benefit levels, and its surcharge trigger for maintaining a minimum balance help to ensure financial stability in the advent of adverse economic conditions.

Under experience-rating provisions, each employer’s contribution rate is determined by the RRB on the basis of benefit payments made to the railroad’s employees. The report predicted that, even under the most pessimistic assumption, the average employer contribution rate remains well below the maximum throughout the projection period.

The report also predicted that the 1.5 percent surcharge in effect in calendar year 2010 will be followed by either a 2.5 percent surcharge under an optimistic assumption or a 3.5 percent surcharge under the intermediate or pessimistic assumptions for calendar year 2011. Under all assumptions, a 2.5 percent surcharge is predicted for calendar year 2012. A surcharge of 1.5 percent for calendar year 2013 is likely only under the pessimistic assumption.

7. What methods were used to evaluate the financial condition of the railroad unemployment insurance system?

The economic and employment assumptions used in the unemployment insurance report corresponded to those used in the report on the retirement system. Projections were made for various components of income and outgo under each of three employment assumptions, but for the 11 fiscal years 2010-2020, rather than a 25-year period.

8. Did the 2010 report on the railroad unemployment insurance system recommend any financing changes to the system?

No financing changes were recommended at this time by the report.

(The preceding release was issued by the Railroad Retirement Board on August 17, 2010.)

By General Secretary & Treasurer Kim Thompson

We are all familiar with employers imposing unwarranted discipline and even dismissal on employees.

A member survey by the UTU’s Rail Safety Task Force revealed that more than 50 percent of train, engine and yard workers cite supervisor harassment and excessive operational testing as distracting them from situational awareness and placing them in harm’s way.

Said one member responding to the survey: “An alarming number of workers are in fear of losing their jobs. Harassment is now the number-one concern in the discharge of duty.”

Income assistance is available to all UTU members, in all crafts, having to weather such events.

The UTU’s Discipline Income Protection Program (DIPP) is a vital benefit only available to UTU members to supplement lost income when suspended or dismissed from employment.

For a reasonable premium, UTU members may enroll for a daily benefit amount ranging from $6 to $200 per day, not to exceed their normal average daily rate of earnings.

Since 2005, the UTU DIPP has paid more than $64.3 million in benefits to members, dwarfing its nearest competitors in terms of benefits paid to UTU members.

The UTU DIPP is by far the largest and most effective protective plan providing such benefits.

From January 2009 through July 2010, more than $16 million in benefits has been paid. Additionally, the UTU DIPP pays out more than 93 percent of premiums in benefits, with the balance paying administrative costs and building additional reserves.

The UTU DIPP is the only program of its kind that is regulated by the Department of Labor, publishes financial statements, holds its funds in trust, and is audited annually by a public accounting firm. The UTU DIPP is audited by the public accounting firm of Corrigan Krause.

Not only is there security in having income replacement available, but there is security in knowing that funds will be available when needed.

The UTU prides itself in paying such claims. As with any federally regulated plan — the UTU DIPP is regulated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) — the UTU DIPP is bound by strict guidelines.

The UTU must and does review the particular facts in each incident to insure payment in every case possible. Questioned cases may also be submitted to committee review. As for benefit exceptions, a general rule of thumb is “if you have no control over the event, the UTU DIPP will pay.”

For peace of mind in the event you fall victim to unwarranted loss of income through employer discipline, every UTU member is advised to strongly consider participation in the UTU DIPP.

For additional information on the UTU DIPP, you may contact your field supervisor, local insurance representative or e-mail dipp@utu.org.

More information on the UTU DIPP may be found at the UTU home page at www.utu.org by clicking on “DIPP” in the links at the top.

By Vic Baffoni,

Vice president, Bus Department

I extend my congratulations to all the newly elected and re-elected Bus Department officers and delegates, and I ask that they do their best to represent all their membership. Dedication and hard work must include conversation and compromise to produce results. Results are our business.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) negotiations continue on a day-by-day extension. General Chairperson James Williams and his negotiating committee continue to try to hammer out an agreement. The current political and financial climate makes it very difficult. I am confident they will succeed.

The new political environment will make it harder for our hard working members and us to succeed in the near future, but succeed we will.

In the Bus Department there is an issue that should be our priority, and that is operational funding.

Operational funding should be incorporated into all legislation that funds transit projects. Federal, state and local entities have allocated large sums of funding for new and/or expanded transit projects.

These projects fund planning and construction — not operations, which includes driver salaries.

Without operational funding, the future of these projects is in jeopardy and may only create future problems. These problems could be failure of new service, cuts in existing service, or both. UTU National Legislative Director James Stem is aware of this funding problem and has been working in Washington to educate lawmakers on this important issue. He and Alternate National Legislative Director John Risch pledge to continue fighting for this funding.

The second annual Big 4 reunion picnic is set for Sept. 11 at Peter Pan Park in Emporia, Kan.

The “Big 4” refers to the four predecessor unions of the UTU plus the BLET. There is no connection to the former “Big 4” railroad.

The picnic will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Almost 300 attended in 2009.

For more information contact organizer Terry Coffelt, 2510 West View Dr., Emporia, KS 66801. Phone (620) 341-9165 or email colfax01us@yahoo.com.

UTU locals that have not filed Form 990, Form 990EZ or Form 990-N with the Internal Revenue Service for the last three years have until Oct. 15, 2010, to file, or they will automatically lose their tax-exempt status.

For additional information on which of three above forms a local is required to file, read the attached release form the IRS.