Al.com reported that last week, Southern Rail Commissioner, Knox Ross, who is also mayor of Pelahatchie, Miss., accompanied FRA administrator Sarah Feinberg and other federal officials on an Amtrak passenger train ride from New Orleans to Jacksonville, FL, to underscore the support for passenger rail restoration along the Gulf Coast. Read the complete article here.
Author: amyr
Members who have been furloughed should be aware that their health care coverage benefits from their employer extend through the end of the fourth month after being furloughed. Below are Frequently Asked Questions that may be useful to furloughed members.
Q: How long does my insurance coverage last if I am furloughed?
A: Employee and eligible dependent coverage extends through the end of the fourth month following the month in which you last render compensated service. For example, an employee last rendering compensated service in January, who is then furloughed in February, will have coverage through the end of May.
Q: Will vacation pay extend coverage beyond four months?
A: With regard to furlough, no.
Q: Will I be able to continue coverage under COBRA when coverage for me and/or my dependents end?
A: The COBRA eligibility period (18, 29 or 36 months) is measured from the date of the “qualifying event.” For the health and welfare plans, the “qualifying event” is the date you last worked, NOT the date your coverage ends.
The COBRA eligibility period, therefore, runs concurrently with the extended coverage as stated above so that COBRA continuation is available for the remaining months, if any, after the extended coverage ends.
For example: An employee is furloughed in January and coverage extends through May. COBRA continuation is available beginning June 1 and thereafter for an additional 13 months. In these circumstances, no more than 18 months of COBRA is available, less the five months during which the employee remained covered by the Plan after the qualifying event in January.
Q: How will I be notified that COBRA is available to me and/or my dependents?
A: When the railroad reports an employee as not being eligible for benefits, a COBRA notice is automatically sent to the employee’s address of record. The form must be completed and returned to UnitedHealthcare in a timely manner in order to establish COBRA coverage.
***
For other benefits that furloughed members may be eligible for click on the following links:
https://www.smart-union.org/news/furloughed-members-may-be-entitled-to-benefits/
https://static.smart-union.org/worksite/newspdfs/2015/October_2015_TD_News_center_final.pdf
***
It should be noted by all furloughed members that it is your responsibility to keep your contact information up to date with your employer and with your union. This includes your phone number, mailing address and email address.
Your employer will need correct contact information to call you back to work. Many SMART TD legislative boards and locals hold informational sessions for furloughed workers and need your correct contact information to keep you informed.
To update your phone number or address call your local officers or call SMART TD headquarters at 216-228-9400 ext. 3908. You may update your address electronically with the union here or by clicking on the “Address Change” button on the right side of the home page.
SAN DIEGO, CA — Transportation unions took aim at critical transportation appropriations battles pending in Washington and continued preparations to show their members and the public the stark choices voters will face in the presidential election.
We are committed to countering the dangerous austerity agenda in certain corners of Congress that threatens to starve job creation investments in transportation,” said Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), following the winter meeting of the organization’s 32-member Executive Committee, held yesterday. “We will also focus on critical safety issues plaguing our sector and fighting corporate efforts to weaken the job security and collective bargaining rights of transportation workers.”
Executive Committee members discussed their priorities with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the lead Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Charlie Cook, political analyst and editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report, provided a snapshot on the state of the presidential race and key U.S. Senate contests. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka held a roundtable with transportation union leaders that focused on pending policy priorities and collective bargaining battles in 2016.
Transportation unions put their weight behind legislation that imposes stiffer criminal penalties on anyone who assaults airline customer service representatives.
“We have seen an increase in attacks on gate and ticket agents – it is time for Congress and the airline companies to better protect these employees,” Wytkind said.
TTD affiliates joined the growing chorus of opposition to Canadian Pacific’s attempted hostile takeover of Norfolk Southern, citing “the devastating impact these transactions can have on jobs, freight service and safety.”
While praising Congress for boosting authorized funding levels for the Maritime Security Program (MSP), which provides vital sealift capacity to the Department of Defense, the Executive Committee vowed to push congressional appropriators and the Obama Administration to fully fund the program.
“Funding MSP is vital to national security and it supports middle class U.S. mariner jobs,” Wytkind said.
Transportation union leaders also condemned underhanded attacks — disguised as measures to monitor the productivity of U.S. ports — on the rights of longshore workers to bargain for job security, and good wages and benefits.
“We will not let the world’s largest retailers and their army of lobbyists eviscerate the bargaining rights of the men and women in our ports,” Wytkind said.
The Executive Committee called for immediate funding of the federal-state compact to build-out the Gateway Project. That project will fix a transportation crisis on the Northeast Corridor that promises to “reverberate across the entire economy” if Amtrak is forced to start shutting down century-old tunnels or severely deteriorated bridges in a region that supports 30 percent of the nation’s jobs.
Transportation unions also urged Congress to ensure that measures to boost aviation security strike the appropriate balance between protecting against terrorist threats and honoring the “legitimate rights of employees.”
Transportation unions focused on the upcoming presidential election with an agreement to work together in rolling out the views and records of the Republican and Democratic nominee for president.
“We are already seeing in this race a contest between candidates who want to massively rebuild our transportation system and expand our middle class, and those who will likely pursue a dangerous austerity agenda tantamount to economic retreat,” Wytkind added.
Transportation Unions’ agenda focuses on job creation, safety and appropriations
2016 Presidential Election Preparations Advance 
San Diego, Calif. — Transportation unions took aim at critical transportation appropriations battles pending in Washington and continued preparations to show their members and the public the stark choices voters will face in the presidential election. “We are committed to countering the dangerous austerity agenda in certain corners of Congress that threatens to starve job creation investments in transportation,” said Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), following the winter meeting of the organization’s 32-member Executive Committee, held yesterday. “We will also focus on critical safety issues plaguing our sector and fighting corporate efforts to weaken the job security and collective bargaining rights of transportation workers.” Executive Committee members discussed their priorities with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the lead Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Charlie Cook, political analyst and editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report, provided a snapshot on the state of the presidential race and key U.S. Senate contests. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka held a roundtable with transportation union leaders that focused on pending policy priorities and collective bargaining battles in 2016. Transportation unions put their weight behind legislation that imposes stiffer criminal penalties on anyone who assaults airline customer service representatives. “We have seen an increase in attacks on gate and ticket agents – it is time for Congress and the airline companies to better protect these employees,” Wytkind said. TTD affiliates joined the growing chorus of opposition to Canadian Pacific’s attempted hostile takeover of Norfolk Southern, citing “the devastating impact these transactions can have on jobs, freight service and safety.” While praising Congress for boosting authorized funding levels for the Maritime Security Program (MSP), which provides vital sealift capacity to the Department of Defense, the Executive Committee vowed to push congressional appropriators and the Obama Administration to fully fund the program. “Funding MSP is vital to national security and it supports middle class U.S. mariner jobs,” Wytkind said. Transportation union leaders also condemned underhanded attacks — disguised as measures to monitor the productivity of U.S. ports — on the rights of longshore workers to bargain for job security, and good wages and benefits. “We will not let the world’s largest retailers and their army of lobbyists eviscerate the bargaining rights of the men and women in our ports,” Wytkind said. The Executive Committee called for immediate funding of the federal-state compact to build-out the Gateway Project. That project will fix a transportation crisis on the Northeast Corridor that promises to “reverberate across the entire economy” if Amtrak is forced to start shutting down century-old tunnels or severely deteriorated bridges in a region that supports 30 percent of the nation’s jobs. Transportation unions also urged Congress to ensure that measures to boost aviation security strike the appropriate balance between protecting against terrorist threats and honoring the “legitimate rights of employees.” Transportation unions focused on the upcoming presidential election with an agreement to work together in rolling out the views and records of the Republican and Democratic nominee for president. “We are already seeing in this race a contest between candidates who want to massively rebuild our transportation system and expand our middle class, and those who will likely pursue a dangerous austerity agenda tantamount to economic retreat,” Wytkind added.
San Diego, Calif. — Transportation unions took aim at critical transportation appropriations battles pending in Washington and continued preparations to show their members and the public the stark choices voters will face in the presidential election. “We are committed to countering the dangerous austerity agenda in certain corners of Congress that threatens to starve job creation investments in transportation,” said Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), following the winter meeting of the organization’s 32-member Executive Committee, held yesterday. “We will also focus on critical safety issues plaguing our sector and fighting corporate efforts to weaken the job security and collective bargaining rights of transportation workers.” Executive Committee members discussed their priorities with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx and Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the lead Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Charlie Cook, political analyst and editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report, provided a snapshot on the state of the presidential race and key U.S. Senate contests. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka held a roundtable with transportation union leaders that focused on pending policy priorities and collective bargaining battles in 2016. Transportation unions put their weight behind legislation that imposes stiffer criminal penalties on anyone who assaults airline customer service representatives. “We have seen an increase in attacks on gate and ticket agents – it is time for Congress and the airline companies to better protect these employees,” Wytkind said. TTD affiliates joined the growing chorus of opposition to Canadian Pacific’s attempted hostile takeover of Norfolk Southern, citing “the devastating impact these transactions can have on jobs, freight service and safety.” While praising Congress for boosting authorized funding levels for the Maritime Security Program (MSP), which provides vital sealift capacity to the Department of Defense, the Executive Committee vowed to push congressional appropriators and the Obama Administration to fully fund the program. “Funding MSP is vital to national security and it supports middle class U.S. mariner jobs,” Wytkind said. Transportation union leaders also condemned underhanded attacks — disguised as measures to monitor the productivity of U.S. ports — on the rights of longshore workers to bargain for job security, and good wages and benefits. “We will not let the world’s largest retailers and their army of lobbyists eviscerate the bargaining rights of the men and women in our ports,” Wytkind said. The Executive Committee called for immediate funding of the federal-state compact to build-out the Gateway Project. That project will fix a transportation crisis on the Northeast Corridor that promises to “reverberate across the entire economy” if Amtrak is forced to start shutting down century-old tunnels or severely deteriorated bridges in a region that supports 30 percent of the nation’s jobs. Transportation unions also urged Congress to ensure that measures to boost aviation security strike the appropriate balance between protecting against terrorist threats and honoring the “legitimate rights of employees.” Transportation unions focused on the upcoming presidential election with an agreement to work together in rolling out the views and records of the Republican and Democratic nominee for president. “We are already seeing in this race a contest between candidates who want to massively rebuild our transportation system and expand our middle class, and those who will likely pursue a dangerous austerity agenda tantamount to economic retreat,” Wytkind added.
Yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden visited Union Depot in St. Paul, Minn., and cited the renewed transit hub as an example of how federal investment in rail infrastructure has sparked growth since the economic collapse of 2009. Read the entire article from the Star Tribune, here.
OLYMPIA, Wash. – State regulators took an important step in updating rail safety rules to address the increase in crude oil being transported by train across the state. The Utilities and Transportation Commission adopted new rules to:
• Set minimum safety requirements and conduct inspections of private crossings located on oil train routes; • Authorize first-class cities, which are exempt, to opt into the UTC crossing inspection program; and • Require railroads that haul crude oil to provide financial verification that they have the means to address a reasonable worst case spill of oil.
In 2015, Gov. Inslee proposed legislation and ultimately signed into law ESHB 1449 that funds additional federally certified rail inspectors; increases regulatory fees for railroads that haul crude oil; and allows state inspectors to enter private shippers’ property without a federal escort. The new rules are the result of that legislation. “Today the UTC takes steps towards ensuring our railways are as safe as possible, but there is still work to do to safeguard the people and environment of Washington,” said Inslee. “The improvements made today to our state’s rail safety program show that we are serious about rail safety and will take what action we can on a state level to address the dangers posed by oil trains.” Congress last year delayed requirements that railroads install anti-collision safety technology, known as “positive train control,” and allowed the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to extend timelines for phasing out older oil tank cars that carry the more volatile crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to west coast refineries. The Federal Railroad Administration has primary jurisdiction over the transportation of oil-by-rail. The UTC supports the FRA’s efforts by performing rail inspections and issuing notices and violations for non-compliance with federal railroad safety regulations on behalf of the FRA. The UTC also maintains jurisdiction over rail crossing safety. A 2015 study conducted by the Dept. of Ecology and the UTC delivered recommendations to Gov. Inslee and the Legislature to address risks to public health and safety associated with oil transportation. The commission’s rail safety recommendations were incorporated into Governor Inslee’s legislation (ESHB 1449). The commission crafted the new rules with the help of industry and environmental stakeholders along with public feedback. The new rules are effective March 11. The UTC regulates railroad safety, including approving new grade crossings and closing or altering existing rail crossings, investigating train accidents, inspecting railroad crossings, approving safety projects and managing rail safety education through Operation Lifesaver.
Washington’s Top News reported on two firefighters’ recollections of the fatal collision between a commuter train and an Amtrak train in Silver Spring, Maryland 20 years ago. Eleven people lost their lives in the crash. Read the entire story here.
In a letter to the editor and published by The Hill, AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Edward Wytkind warns that GOP presidential candidates want to devolutionize laws governing freight and passenger rail in the U.S.
The candidates are in support of deregulating the current rail laws and funding and turning it over to each individual state to mete out transportation policy and funding. GOP candidates Ohio Governor John Kasich, Jeb Bush and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (Fla.) have come out in support of devolution of transportation policy and funding.
“…we must not accept candidates for president who fail to grasp the magnitude of this transportation investment crisis, and who advance policies that would make us a loser in the increasingly competitive global economy,” Wytkind said. “We need a vast transportation system that can deliver goods and people safely and with speed and precision, not some piecemeal experiment dreamed up by anti-government crusaders who can’t seem to get out of their own way.”
Click here to read the full story from The Hill.
Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement in response to Amtrak’s 2017 General and Legislative Annual Report:
“Amtrak has submitted a funding request for FY2017 that gives our national passenger railroad and its employees a chance to deliver faster and more reliable train service. Amtrak faces a backlog of major investments that are needed to propel its service and equipment to a new level. This includes safety and capacity upgrades such as the Gateway project between New York and New Jersey, which features century-old tunnels and severely eroded bridges that need major refurbishment or replacement. And as Amtrak seeks to overcome its major infrastructure challenges, the company’s front-line employees must be treated and compensated fairly for their work to keep the national system running successfully.
“When Congress included a long-term reauthorization of Amtrak funding in the recently enacted surface transportation legislation, the FAST Act, lawmakers wisely chose to provide Amtrak with funding certainty and stability and rejected privatization and outsourcing mandates. Congress must now invest in our chronically underfunded national passenger rail network by appropriating federal resources consistent with Amtrak’s FY 2017 funding request.
“Amtrak is a vital transportation link for millions of people across the country who are clamoring for more service, as evidenced by more than two years of polling in both red and blue states showing pent-up demand regardless of political affiliation or ideology. We urge Congress to listen to the voters and boost Amtrak funding in the upcoming appropriations legislation.”