Author: amyr

Home>Articles by: amyr

By Vic Baffoni
Vice President, Bus

Congratulations to Local 1900 Chairperson Albert Collie and President Juan Ucanan at Parsec in Florida on their success in winning four of five grievances.

Kudos also go to Local 172 Chairperson Theresa Costantini and Trustee Kathleen Sitongia at Delco Transportation in Pennsylvania. They successfully resolved contract grievances resulting in reinstatement of a member and assurances for others of pay for lost work.

A special commendation goes to the New Jersey State Legislative Board and State Legislative Director Dan O’Connell for their efforts in helping to gain passage of legislation — signed by Gov. Jon Corzine — providing up to six weeks of paid family leave. They worked with the New Jersey State AFL-CIO and many community organizations to secure the legislation after 13 years of previously unsuccessful efforts.

Because of continued strong employer opposition, a compromise was required to gain legislative passage of the new law. Thus, the worker requesting family leave first must use two weeks of vacation or sick leave. This benefit will be paid out of New Jersey’s Temporary Disability Income Fund, with employees paying $33 annually to ensure the coverage.

The New Jersey Legislative Board unsuccessfully sought to gain coverage for rail workers in the state, but because they do not pay into the disability income fund, they were not included in coverage. The new benefit will commence July 1, 2009.

Our Organizing Department is in contact with bus operators and mechanics on numerous properties around the nation who have shown interest in representation by the UTU. If you know of unorganized workers seeking representation, please let me know, or call our Organizing Department at (216) 228-9400.

Brothers and Sisters:

As we approach the six-month point of our administration, we are pleased to report that UTU finances have been improving steadily.

When we took office Jan. 1, there were forebodings of financial disaster just around the corner. For sure, there were financial difficulties, but nothing of the nature that, as we had been told, required us to surrender our independence to another organization to bail us out.

In fact, the combination of internal cost reductions — including an end to wasteful spending — plus additional dues dollars have increased our total International funds by more than $2 million. While that certainly seems like a lot of money, our cash on hand is still shy of a minimum safety level sufficient to weather strikes and other unexpected costs.

So long as we are not hit with a sudden financial shock, we will continue to add to our fund balances, each day growing financially stronger. We are pledged to continue strict cost controls — especially with regard to travel — in the face of sharply higher airline fares and health-care costs for our International staff.

The surplus of the United Transportation Union Insurance Association also continues to increase, and the surplus is on track to grow in excess of half-a-million dollars in calendar year 2008.

This is result of additional policy sales and a favorable trend in claims presented.

The UTUIA is one of the nation’s few remaining union-friendly insurance companies. Where competing insurance companies frequently are engaged in anti-union activities, such as lobbying for corporate-favored public policy, the UTUIA is an insurance company owned by union members, and it operates solely for the benefit of union families.

As for our Discipline Income Protection Plan (DIPP), it continues to face financial pressures flowing from the continued excessive discipline being issued by some carriers.

We recognize also that UTU members have been stepping up to the plate and supporting DIPP with their participation.

And we remain proud that the UTU DIPP remains steadfast in looking for ways to pay claims of participants. By contrast, other job benefit plans continue to look for ways to avoid paying claims.

As we have said previously, if the DIPP is to remain a viable service to UTU members, then UTU members must participate in large numbers. We again ask all participants to continue their membership in the DIPP fund, and to encourage your brothers and sisters also to participate.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org

By Vic Baffoni,
Vice President, Bus

Congratulations to officers and members of Local 1589, New Brunswick, N.J., on a new contract that includes improved wages and benefits.

The UTU International is working with members of Local 1697, employed by TNM&O Coaches in Texas, following the carrier’s sale to Greyhound. We intend to protect their assignments and seniority.

We are monitoring proposed revisions by the FMCSA of CDL testing standards, and new minimum standards for commercial learner’s permits (CLPs).

The revisions would require successful completion of the knowledge test before issuance of a CLP, and prohibit use of foreign language interpreters.

Applicants would be required to hold a CLP at least 30 days before applying for a CDL, and an issuing state would be required to check the applicant’s driving record, plus verify Social Security numbers and proof of legal U.S. residency.

Drivers applying for a new or upgraded CDL would be required to successfully complete minimum classroom and behind-the-wheel training from an accredited program.

States would be required to recognize CLPs issued by other states, and use standardized endorsement and restriction codes on CDLs.

Drivers would not be permitted to operate a commercial motor vehicle without holding a current CLP or CDL, or to operate a vehicle in violation of the restrictions on the CLP or CDL.

The proposed revisions have been provided to state legislative directors, who will be in contact with bus property general chairpersons.

UTU local treasurers are not required to file Internal Revenue Service Form 990-N by May 15.

However, said UTU International Auditor Steve Noyes, locals that are required to file IRS Forms 990 and 990-EZ must still file those forms by the May 15 deadline.

Noyes said he was told by IRS representatives that their Web site has been receiving a large influx of people submitting the 990 forms. As a result of the high traffic to the site, the site is experiencing slow response times.

Locals must still file Form 990-N; but not prior to May 15.

By Dr. Norman Brown
UTU Medical Consultant

I occasionally try to get a patient to “lighten up” about some aspect of his or her health by explaining, with a smile, that I spend half of my time encouraging patients to do something, and the other half of my time encouraging them not to do something else.

This split-personality approach especially applies to items we put into our mouths day in and day out. Take your vitamins. Don’t use Chinese toothpaste (which was found to contain traces of diethylene glycol, which more properly goes into your car’s radiator.)

What is a vitamin, anyway? We humans manufacture our energy and internal- construction needs from our diets — namely, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. However, in addition, we also need some 11 particular chemical molecules, which we are unable to make ourselves. These molecules are called vitamins, and if any of us go long enough without just one of these, a specific disease will develop.

Problems with our skin, bone, vision and blood production are just a few examples of vitamin-deficiency diseases. But these deficiency diseases are downright rare in the U.S., with so much good food available, often with vitamins added.

A broad diet, including fruits and vegetables, will include these vitamins most of the time. But, just to be sure, a daily multiple vitamin will more than cover our daily needs.

So, if a daily vitamin were good for us, wouldn’t two be better than one — or, maybe three? Current thinking is, “no.” Extra vitamins probably do not change our internal chemistry for the better — and, a few vitamins, those soluble in fat such as A, D, E and K, when taken in excess, can build up and hurt us.

Admittedly, there are a few uncommon conditions leading to poor absorption of a normal amount of a vitamin — B-12 would be an example — but, do I dare say it: ask your doctor if you are such a person.

Nutritional supplements have grown in popularity in America in recent years. There is a lot of advertising out there recommending supplements for improved strength, losing weight, better sex life and on and on.

How does one choose to take such products, or stay away from them?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is charged with the responsibility of watching for harmful substances in these products, but it cannot cover the huge number of them, so please: if you do take one, study the labels and consider primarily reputable companies.

Imported products, especially herbs, may contain unknown ingredients, so be extra careful. Not long ago, I saw a woman complaining of abdominal pain. Her liver tests were abnormal. When she stopped taking an imported Chinese herb preparation, the symptoms and the liver tests resolved.

What do I do myself? Aw, come on. I don’t have to tell you, do I, really? Okay, okay: I take one daily multi-vitamin when my wife puts it on my place mat. She buys them with her own money.

By Vic Baffoni,

Vice President, Bus

The safety of our members in the work place has been — and will always be — a priority of this union and its officers.

More and more, we are experiencing passenger assaults on drivers. Any environment where a bus operator fears for his or her safety is equally dangerous for riders and traffic sharing the highway, because when coach operators must concern themselves with possible assaults, they cannot fully concentrate on safe driving.

Some agencies are providing enclosures for drivers. In Washington, D.C., for example, where the number of assaults on bus drivers has tripled since 2002, a clear, plastic shield is being inserted between the driver’s seat and the fare box. Also, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is experimenting with an enclosure.

While some enclosures being tested protect drivers from assaults, they may block the escape route for the driver and/or passengers in the event of a collision. Protective enclosures should permit the driver to exit the bus quickly and without impeding the escape of passengers. We urge also that protective shields be manually operated and not be connected to the front frame of the coach, as such construction could cause the shield to collapse into or onto the driver in a front-end collision.

Driver safety is one of many issues I am discussing with local officers and members.

Recently, I visited locals 710 and 759 in Newark, N.J.; Local 1496 in Riverside, Calif.; Local 1584 in Lancaster, Calif.; Local 1589 in New Brunswick, N.J.; Local 1741 in San Francisco; and Local 1785 in Santa Monica, Calif. In these meetings, we also discussed their members’ concerns regarding the union. I am very impressed with the leadership of the locals and their desire to serve their memberships.

Finally, congratulations to General Chairperson Nelson Manzano and his committee in negotiating an excellent contract for members on the Red and Tan Lines in northern New Jersey.

Brothers and Sisters:

Meetings are underway across the country to explain our tentative national rail agreement and provide members the opportunity to ask questions. Check with your local officers, general chairperson or state legislative director if you have not been notified of a meeting near you.

A listing of meetings also is provided on the home page at www.utu.org.

A voting package will be mailed by mid-May to members eligible to vote on the national agreement. A notice will be posted at www.utu.org when the packages — with voting instructions, the complete agreement, and questions and answers — are mailed. Voting will be via telephone and conducted by the American Arbitration Association.

In the meantime, information on the agreement is available on the UTU Web page, at www.utu.org, under a special link, “Railroad Contract Negotiations Update.”

Our tentative agreement improves on the pattern settlement, and general committees of adjustment still will be able to gain additional improvements on local issues.

Does the tentative national agreement provide everything we want? No. But the bottom line is that we can’t do better than we have achieved with this national agreement — but we could do worse.

Those of us who suffered through PEB 219 in 1991 recall what happened when we struck the railroads and Congress imposed the PEB recommendations.

Even though the House of Representatives was controlled by Democrats, Congress ended the strike within hours. The legislation forced on us the PEB 219 recommendations, which resulted in two-person crews and elimination of the fireman-helper.

The recommendations of PEB 219 were the final nail in the coffin eliminating brakemen and firemen-helpers — the nails and coffin provided by the carriers and the hammer by the first President Bush in selecting the members of PEB 219.

If we reject this agreement, we can expect that the improvements we gained over the pattern settlement would be dead-on-arrival at a Bush-appointed PEB.

That would mean we would lose the ability to keep the entry-rate issue on the table and correct it through arbitration, lose the higher meal allowance, lose the COLA, and lose a provision unique to our agreement that returns to us any health-care insurance-premium savings should Congress enact public-funding of health-care.

Additional items

When you receive your May issue of UTU News in mid-May, we call your attention to four items:

  • The UTU budget is published, which delegates instructed us to do at the quadrennial convention last August.
  • There is an article on two of our younger leaders — Billy Moye and Carlos Wallace — who recently completed a course at the National Labor College in organizing strategies, which included principles of labor law, communication skills and fact-finding. Brothers Moye and Wallace will be taking those skills into the workplace to infuse in new members a full appreciation of what unions accomplish for members.
  • A feature continues that spotlights three UTU headquarters employees each month.
  • Another continuing feature spotlights two UTU designated legal counsel each month — skilled and experienced attorneys who understand the railroad industry, its safety hazards and every aspect of the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). Our designated legal counsel are chosen for their special knowledge and experience, and their job is to represent you if you are injured on the job.

Please take note that on the UTU Website, at www.utu.org, under the link for “Meetings,” there is complete registration information for our regional meetings in Denver and Nashville. Those meetings focus on education and interaction among members.

A highlight of this year’s regional meetings will be a presentation by Professor Jim McDonnell on labor history and the role of labor unions in creating a middle-class in America. As Professor McDonnell advises, labor cannot build for the future without fully understanding its past struggles, defeats and victories.

At UTU headquarters in Cleveland, we have been realigning jobs to make member services more efficient and cost effective — and without hurting any of our dedicated employees who are ably and proudly represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).

Finally, the 2008 annual sales meeting of the United Transportation Union Insurance Association will be held April 27-29 — the one annual event dedicated to training and educating our field supervisors and assistant field supervisors. It is a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences related to existing and new UTUIA products and services.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org

By Mike Futhey
International President

A railroader’s most cherished workplace safety assurance is the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), which turns 100 years old this month.

Railroading is among the most dangerous occupations in America. In an industry that too often puts profits ahead of safety, the FELA is a powerful prod to improved workplace safety.

“There should be legislation to secure pecuniary compensation to workmen suffering from accidents,” said President Teddy Roosevelt in 1907, in urging Congress to pass the FELA.

Indeed, in the year leading up to the FELA’s passage, 4,353 railroaders were killed, and 62,689 more railroad employees were injured, according to data reported in 1908 by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Years earlier, when viewing similar appalling data, President Benjamin Harrison declared, “It is a reproach to our civilization that any class of American workmen should, in the pursuit of a necessary and useful vocation, be subjected to a peril of life and limb as great as that of a soldier in war.”

President Harrison was correct to be appalled by the carnage. History records that while train and engine-service employees then constituted just 20 percent of the railroad workforce, they accounted for some 60 percent of all fatalities and injuries. In 1889, for every 117 trainmen employed, one was killed; and for every 12 employed, one was injured.

Although some states had passed legislation allowing injured workers to seek compensation for workplace injuries, it was recognized that railroad employees were engaged in interstate commerce on trains that frequently moved across state lines, creating significant legal hurdles.

With encouragement from UTU predecessor unions, Congress passed, and President Roosevelt signed, the FELA on April 22, 1908.

The FELA made railroads liable if an employee injury or death results in whole or in part from the negligence of any of its officers, agents or employees, or from any defect or insufficiency in equipment or roadbed. Contributory negligence on the part of the injured worker does not bar a recovery under the FELA.

The Supreme Court observed that the FELA is intended to “impel the carrier to avoid and prevent negligent acts and omissions.”

The Supreme Court also upheld the right of unions to advise injured workers to obtain expert legal advice, and the right of unions to designate legal counsel possessing specialized knowledge in railroad operations and the FELA.

In fact, the FELA prohibits railroads from retaliating against employees who provide Designated Legal Counsel with factual information on injuries to fellow employees, or who testify in support of injured workers.

When the carriers and their anti-labor friends in Congress made one of their many unsuccessful attempts to repeal the FELA in 1995, the U.S. General Accounting Office — known as Congress’s “watchdog,” issued a report concluding that the FELA is an effective law, working as intended.

“The FELA was designed to put on the railroad industry some of the costs of the legs, arms, eyes, and lives which it consumed in its operation,” wrote Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in 1948.

If you are injured on the job, the FELA and your UTU Designated Legal Counsel are the best friends you and your family have. These successful trial lawyers are specialists in handling FELA claims, and are fully experienced in dealing with railroad claim agents and railroad lawyers.

A listing of UTU Designated Legal Counsel — attorneys who answer to the UTU — is provided at www.utu.org (by clicking on “Designated Legal Counsel” in the blue tile box on the left of the home page), or a listing may be obtained from local union officers or your general chairpersons.

The UTU News also is featuring photos and information — two each month — on our Designated Legal Counsel. Look for that feature in each issue when it arrives in the mail.

Carriers continue to lobby Congress to repeal the FELA — each attempt so far blunted by the UTU, and with credit for the successful defense of the FELA rooted in member contributions to the UTU PAC.

Join me in wishing the FELA a happy 100th birthday.

Even better, consider making a special contribution to the UTU PAC to help us continue our vigilance in defending the FELA.

By Bonnie Morr
Alternate Vice President, Bus

When operating a motor coach — whether carrying students, commuters, tourists or the handicapped – whenever we open the door, we are exposed to assaults.

We are vulnerable to what we do see, and what we cannot see, such as the sneezing, wheezing and coughing passengers spreading illness.

Many of us are versed in “talking down” aggressive and sometimes out-of-control passengers. The federal government and states are toughening penalties for violent acts against transportation workers, and many employers are taking additional steps to protect bus operators, such as by installing video cameras in terminals and on buses.

On page 11 of this issue, our union’s medical consultant, Dr. Norman Brown, explains how to protect ourselves against one dangerous micro-organism called MRSA.

A benefit of being a union member is that from the local level to the International, we have qualified officers and staff working each day to help improve workplace safety. For example, to the right of this column is an article and photo showing the success of the UTU in having notices posted in Coach USA buses in New Jersey warning of severe penalties for assaulting bus operators.

If you have ideas about further protecting the safety and health of bus operators, share them with your local officers, and also with Bus Department Vice President Vic Baffoni at the UTU International in Cleveland, whose e-mail address is v_baffoni@utu.org.

By Mike Futhey
International President

We have been receiving numerous reports of members disciplined following an on-the-job injury. Too often, the injury was the result of a carrier’s failure to correct its own safety hazard or safety violation.

But if there is no paper trail of the safety hazard or carrier safety violation prior to the injury, the injured employee can end up becoming a victim for a second time through discipline.

How do you keep from becoming a victim twice? You write a detailed letter to the carrier describing every safety hazard and every violation of FRA safety regulations encountered – but you must also provide a copy of that letter to your local legislative representative and your state legislative director.

By so doing, you have created a paper trail, preventing the carrier from later disavowing knowledge of the safety hazard or safety violation.

Beyond protecting yourself against arbitrary carrier discipline following an injury, here are three other reasons why you should write that detailed letter:

  • The Federal Railroad Administration has a limited number of safety inspectors. They cannot, on their own, find every carrier safety violation. When state legislative directors receive copies of your letter to the carrier, they can refer those safety violations to the appropriate FRA official. By collecting those letters, state legislative directors can also identify multiple violations that should be reported to the national legislative office for handling at the highest levels of the FRA.
  • State legislative directors work with lawmakers at the state and federal level to craft legislation leading to new and improved safety regulations. In Illinois, for example, State Legislative Director Joe Szabo convinced the legislature to pass a rail-safety bill based on evidence presented by UTU members about safety hazards. The current federal rail safety bill being considered by Congress includes provisions that would not have been embraced by lawmakers were it not for written evidence provided by UTU members.
  • When employees are injured, and they seek recovery under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, it is not uncommon for the carrier to deny knowledge of the safety hazard or its own violation of safety regulations. But when local legislative representatives and state legislative directors can provide UTU Designated Legal Counsel with copies of such letters, your legal case is strengthened.

Simply calling a carrier’s safety hotline is not enough to protect you, your family or your brothers and sisters from carrier safety hazards and safety violations. Those telephone calls go only to the carrier, which may or may not correct the situation.

Only when your local legislative representative and state legislative director receive your letter can they help you take action to correct the problem and make the workplace safer. If you need help writing the letter, ask your local legislative representative or state legislative director for that help.

Don’t become a victim twice. Write that letter and make sure a copy goes to your local legislative representative and your state legislative director.