Registration has opened for local treasurers who are interested in attending workshops where they will learn how to use the new TD Connect system to manage member records and to work the new eBill before the system’s Jan. 1, 2019, rollout. Follow the links below to register. Workshops are scheduled:
November 5, 6 & 7, 2018 – Kansas City, Mo.
SESSION FULL – REGISTRATION CLOSED, SEE BELOW FOR WAITLIST INFO; hotel registration deadline is Oct. 12.
November 7, 8 & 9, 2018 – Kansas City, Mo. (second session)
SESSION FULL – REGISTRATION CLOSED, SEE BELOW FOR WAITLIST INFO; hotel reservation deadline is Oct. 12.
November 12, 13 & 14, 2018 – Birmingham, Ala.<
SESSION FULL – REGISTRATION CLOSED, SEE BELOW FOR WAITLIST INFO.
November 27, 28 & 29, 2018 – Rosemead, Calif.
SESSION FULL – REGISTRATION CLOSED, SEE BELOW FOR WAITLIST INFO. Workshops will run 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. all three days and will prepare local treasurers for the launch of the new TD Connect and eBill system along with the newest version of WinStabs. Additional topics may include: maintaining payroll deductions, making proper disbursements, budgeting, record keeping, paying taxes and filing reports with authorities. Attendance for each workshop is limited and spaces will be filled on a first-come basis. A waitlist is available for those interested in attending a workshop that has been filled. Contact Alyssa Patchin at the TD offices to be placed on the list. The sessions will include all training and materials at no cost to the local. However, the local is responsible for all other costs associated with the treasurer’s attendance at the workshop. Lost time or salary, travel, hotel and meal expenses connected with attendance may be reimbursed if pre-approved by the membership at the local meeting as an allowable expense of the local. Click here for a flier with specific workshop details, including location and hotel information. For more information or to be placed on a workshop waitlist, call Alyssa Patchin at the TD offices or email apatchin@smart-union.org.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept. 5, 2018) – The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the International Association of Sheet Metal Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Transportation Division (SMART TD) have filed a joint petition challenging actions of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) that allow crews comprised of Mexican nationals employed by a Mexican rail company to operate trains across the United States border and into the U.S. instead of American crews employed by American railroads. Since July 9, the FRA has allowed foreign crews from Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM), a railroad based in Mexico and subsidiary of Kansas City Southern (KCS), to cross into the U.S. and run trains on the Texas Mexican Railway Company (“Tex-Mex”) line in Laredo, Texas. BLET and SMART TD maintain that this violates long-established federal laws and regulations regarding safety, training, crew qualifications and conduct of locomotive engineers and conductors operating freight trains in the U.S. The FRA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), which also is named as a respondent in the petition. “The Petitioners challenge this conduct as arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, in excess of the Respondents’ statutory authority and otherwise contrary to law,” the petition states. There has been no order, waiver, public notice or documentation published by the FRA regarding the actions being challenged. The unions seek to set aside the agencies’ actions and to require that they divulge all internal records detailing the authorization of the practice, including the vetting of the non-U.S. crewmembers by FRA, and the decision to allow KCSM, a foreign company not incorporated in the United States, to operate across the border into this country. “FRA’s conduct has generated significant safety concerns,” BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce said. “U.S. crews are held to the highest safety standards while crews coming in from Mexico are held to much lower standards in terms of certification, testing and operating experience. This degradation in safety is unacceptable. Beyond that, while American companies outsourcing jobs to foreign countries is nothing new, all Americans should be angered by this job giveaway on our own soil.” “We deem it to be unsafe, we deem it to be a threat to American jobs. FRA has not been able to answer simple questions regarding certification and qualification of the foreign crews. Nor have they explained in any way how they plan to enforce American safety rules to hold the foreign crews to the same high safety standards that govern all American railroad workers,” SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich said. “We are not going to let FRA stand aside and ignore their responsibilities while a Class I carrier allows foreign crews to cross the border and jeopardize the safety of our members and the American public.” The petition was filed in U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Follow this link to view this release in PDF form.
The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program has opened registration for hazmat/chemical emergency response training programs in November, January, February and March. This training addresses OSHA- and DOT-required training in addition to procedures, different levels of response and worker protection in a hazardous materials emergency or release, weapons of mass destruction awareness and the incident command system. The training also provides completion of the OSHA 10-Hour General Industry Outreach requirements and is delivered using interactive classroom instruction, small group activities, hands-on drills and a simulated hazmat response in full safety gear. Training sessions are scheduled Nov. 11 to 16; Jan. 6 to 11, 2019; Feb. 3 to 8, 2019; and March 17 to 22, 2019, at the Houston Fire Department’s Val Jahnke Training Facility, 8030 Braniff St., Houston, TX 77061. Programs begin Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. and conclude Fridays at 1 p.m. The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is funded to provide this training by a federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The funding provides the following student expenses: air travel, lodging and meals. In addition, an incentive of $175 per day is available to all training participants of these programs, except those who are able to secure regular pay through their employer or are paid union officers. Students may be asked to travel on Saturdays to meet program start times or where substantial reductions in airfare warrant. When registering, please select dates in order of preference. A flier about the sessions is available to post at your worksite. Follow this link to register online. For more information, call 202-624-6963 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Monday through Friday.
Nebraska State Legislative Director Bob Borgeson invites TD members in his state to come out to Omaha and participate in Labor Day events Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, Sept. 2, dinner and speakers will kick off the annual Labor Day Eve feed 5:30 p.m. at the SMART Union Hall, 3333 S. 24th St. in Omaha, where parade shirts will be distributed. Monday will continue the two-decade-plus tradition of marching in the Omaha parade. Lineup is at 9 a.m. at a location that will be determined. The parade begins at 10 a.m. A refreshment tent, courtesy of Hunegs, LeNeave and Kvas law firm, will be available for participants at the parade’s conclusion. If a local wishes to contribute to help offset the costs of putting on these events, please make a check out to SMART TD NSLB LO-030, Borgeson said. For more information, email Borgeson at smartdirector@cox.net.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The Florida State Legislative Board invited two Florida state politicians to address attendees at the August regional meeting. While there, both pledged to continue their advocacy for labor while thanking members for their support. State Rep. Joe Geller (D – Dist. 100) said that an inhospitable political climate at the moment in the Florida Legislature won’t deter him from fighting against anti-labor policies in Tallahassee. “I’m one of the people in Tallahassee who doesn’t make any bones about where I stand,” he said at the Aug. 6 lunch break. “I’m pro-union. I’m pro-labor. I stand with working men and women because working men and women are who built this country.” Florida state Rep. Joe Geller (D – Dist. 100) delivers his speech Aug. 6 during the Hollywood, Fla., regional meeting as TD Vice President John England applauds at right. Geller said better wages, a support system for the impoverished, improved workplace safety and aid to public schools came as a result of the labor movement’s efforts. “Labor is what made this country what it is today, and we all need to stand together with the labor movement, and I always will,” he said. Geller, a former mayor and former Miami-Dade County Democratic Party chairman, said it’s easy to identify those who oppose labor – they constantly look to cut those things that unions have clawed and fought to achieve. “There is no mistake that there is an assault on the rights of working men and women around our country and right here in this state. We’ve got to stand up and all stand together — link our arms together as men and women and stand for the rights for working people, especially to organize and be treated fairly,” he said. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME decision in June is one example of this assault, and things will need to be done legislatively to fix the damage done by the decision as well as to further protect workers. “If we don’t stand with each other, we’re not going to be able to withstand this right-wing assault on working men and women that happens in so many ways,” Geller said. “Don’t feel like you’re alone. There’s plenty of us out there who see what they’re trying to do and won’t stand for it. “We will not quietly go along with these plans to undermine working men and women and their chosen labor organizations. We’re here to fight, and we need everybody to stand together and fight this fall in the most important mid-term election that this country has ever seen.” State Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez (D – Dist. 37) began his speech at the Aug. 7 opening session with a message of thanks to members. “Thank you for staying active in your union, staying informed, for volunteering, for voting,” Rodriguez said. At the state level in Florida, he said legislation to improve safety conditions for rail workers and bus operators is a priority, but it’s been difficult to make progress. “I wish there was more that we could do in our current political climate to move the needle,” Rodriguez said. “In the Legislature, it’s mainly just been about holding the line against some of the attacks that Mr. Brodar had been talking about.” TD President John Previsich shakes Florida state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez’s hand after Rodriguez addressed the regional meeting on Aug. 7. SMART Transportation Division General Counsel Kevin Brodar spoke immediately before Rodriguez about the Janus decision. Rodriguez’s mother was a union nurse, and he saw the benefits that came from union membership growing up and then later as a labor attorney when cases involving worker safety and workers’ rights came up. But there are deep-pocketed interests that aren’t even allowing labor-related issues to be placed on the Legislature’s agenda, Rodriguez said. “We really need to change the political culture, the political climate,” he said. Geller and Rodriguez both took time to acknowledge the work of Florida State Legislative Director Andres Trujillo, who, along with Legislative Vice Chairperson Eduardo Guillen and Local 1138 Secretary & Treasurer Terry Hobbs, served as the local committee for the meeting at the Hilton Diplomat Resort.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich foresees a very different scenario when the next round of national rail negotiations starts in 2019, he told the audience at the closing session of the TD Regional Meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 8. “When we entered into the last round, you’ll recall that the railroad business was down … the railroads were claiming they were losing money” Previsich said. “That situation is now entirely different.” SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich responds to members' submitted questions during the closing session of the third and final day of the TD Regional Meeting at the Hilton Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, Fla., on Aug. 8. Carriers have been reaping record profits and increased revenue and received the gift of a corporate tax reduction from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed last year. But instead of reinvesting their gains in their infrastructure or rewarding their workforce, rail carriers have used it to buy back stocks to boost their share prices. That means with the national rail agreement open for negotiations in late 2019, the carriers will not get to recycle the economic argument, Previsich said. “We will not tolerate in negotiations any claim for lack of revenue, or for lack of available money to provide a decent increase to our membership in the face of record stock buybacks that enrich a select few,” Previsich said. “We won’t stand for it. It’s an important time, given the political climate, given the economic climate, that we now reap what we’ve earned.” Previsich also touched upon the situation in Texas, where Kansas City Southern (KCS) started early last month the practice of allowing foreign rail crews to cross into the United States at the Laredo border crossing and travel nine miles into our country before replacing them with American workers. “The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) thus far has taken absolutely no action to stop this practice,” Previsich said. “FRA has an obligation to ensure the safety of American workers and the American public. Their refusal to live up to that obligation is not acceptable. On this matter, FRA is allowing the railroads to self-regulate and self-certify without oversight.” He told attendees at the meeting that the union will do “anything and everything” to attack FRA’s lack of responsibility on the issue. “We deem it to be unsafe, we deem it to be a threat to our jobs,” Previsich said. “We are not going to let them (FRA) stand aside while a Class I carrier allows foreign crews to cross the border and steal our jobs while jeopardizing the safety of our members and the general public.” He called for members to prepare to act to put the pressure on when and where it is needed. “When that time comes, we’re going to let you know,” he said. “We want you to do everything you can to ensure that each and every member delivers a strong and powerful message to Washington.”
We’re closer to the rollout of the new TD Connect eBill system. Will you be ready?
The TD Connect eBill system is going to save treasurers valuable time and energy when it rolls out this coming January. With this paperless eBill system, the entire processing and submitting of the monthly bill is completed online in TD Connect.
A fall workshop schedule has been set up for S&Ts to learn how to use the new TD Connect system. Dates are:
Oct. 8, 9 & 10 – New Haven, CT
Nov. 5, 6 & 7 – Kansas City, MO
Nov. 12, 13 & 14 – Birmingham, AL
November 27, 28 & 29 – Rosemead, CA
Sessions will run 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. all three days and details about the locations will be provided soon. Attendance is limited to 30 registrants and will be accepted on a first-come basis. The three-day sessions will include all training and materials at no cost to the local. However, the local is responsible for all other costs associated with the treasurer’s attendance at the workshop. Lost time or salary, travel, hotel and meal expenses connected with attendance may be reimbursed if pre-approved by the membership at the local meeting as an allowable expense of the local. Help us plan accordingly and complete a workshop interest form so you can be among the first notified with location-specific details.
Handling E-49 in TD Connect
This new system has built-in logic that will help treasurers apply dues in compliance with Article 21B of the SMART Constitution.
For E-49 (dues exempt) status, the new TD Connect eBill system automatically flags members who did not provide dues payments when dues were received the month prior. The eBill system then requires a date that the member last worked to be entered in order to proceed.
Conversely, if a dues payment is received from a member who had been designated the month before as having an E-49 status, then that member will be flagged as an active member and a return-to-service date will be required in order to proceed.
The TD Connect system will calculate dues owed by the member once those required dates are entered.
The SMART Constitution requires (Article 21B, Section 49) that the Local Treasurer, President and Chairman monitor closely which members have E-49 status. Fulfilling this requirement and keeping track of these dates will make everyone’s job a bit easier. Members who are in E-49 status are required by the Constitution to complete, sign and turn in the E-49 form to the Local S&T, Local Treasurer or Local Chairperson.
A quick quiz for E-49: Q: A member goes into active military service on July 20, 2018. When would that member qualify for exempt status?
A: September 2018.
Q: That same member then returns to the job on November 29, 2018. When would the member be required to pay dues again?
A: December 2018.
Questions about the S&T’s roles and responsibilities?
Call the Field Support Help Desk at 216-227-5444. Drop-in help desk hours are 9a-5p (Central Time) M-W-F. Help desk appointments can be scheduled in advance for Tuesdays, Thursdays, weekends and evenings. Call or email fieldauditor@group. smart-union.org to schedule an appointment.
All 2018 paper (aka green-bar) bills must be submitted to TD prior to gaining access to eBill. We recommend working through your December 2018 bill as soon as possible. Do not wait until the December 20th deadline!
Local Treasurers must work to clear outstanding member variances.
Local Treasurers must work to develop a system between your members, local chairmen, local president and local treasurer to gather dates required to process E-49 statuses.
Locals must notify TD with dues rates
For proper record keeping and member maintenance, your local dues rates must match the SMART Transportation Division record in iLink. The structure consists of:
International (TD) dues
State legislative dues
General committee (GCA) dues
Local dues
Local committee of adjustment (LCA) dues
If the dues rates in WinStabs and iLink do not match, it will cause issues with your monthly billing.
Your dues structure can be checked through iLink by going to MEMBERSHIP > REPORTS > DUES SUMMARY REPORT. If the dues levels for the international, state or GCA are not the same as what is reflected in iLink, then WinStabs would need to be updated, and you should contact the Field Audit Help Desk at fieldauditor@group.smart-union.org for assistance.
If the local or LCA dues levels are not the same as those shown in iLink, then the TD offices need to be receive an update. Please notify the Updating Department by calling 216-228-9400 or emailing Dora Wolf at dwolf@smart-union.org to get the discrepancy resolved.
If you have questions regarding the proper process for changing your dues rate or implementing assessments, contact the TD President’s Department at 216-228-9400.
Ask an Auditor
Q: We have a future meeting that falls on a holiday. The TD Constitution mentions that a quorum is required to switch the meeting time. How do we go about doing this?
In Article 21B, Section 55 of the SMART Constitution, it says that a quorum consisting of five (5) members in good standing is required for a transaction of business. If you have a regular or special meeting and a quorum of members is present, then a majority of the quorum would be required to carry a motion that approves the meeting schedule change on a one-time basis. This can be done informally through a show of hands.
Provided the motion to change the meeting date carries, “reasonable” notice should then be posted at all locations where affected members report for duty. “Reasonable,” according to the SMART Constitution, is at least five (5) days, but additional notice is always a good idea for people to rearrange their schedules, especially around a holiday. Posting the notice immediately after the meeting in which the change has been made wouldn’t be a bad thing to do.
If a local’s scheduled meeting does get changed, please notify the TD President’s Department of the new schedule. A new member or one who is returning to service could call the TD office asking about his or her local’s meeting schedule, and we would then be able to pass the information along.
Local treasurers will have a chance to learn how to use the new TD Connect system to manage member records and to work the new eBill before the system’s Jan. 1, 2019, rollout at a series of workshops planned this fall. Workshops are scheduled:
Workshops will run 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. all three days, and additional location-specific details will be provided once available. The three-day sessions will prepare local treasurers for the launch of the new TD Connect and eBill system along with the newest version of WinStabs. Additional topics may include: maintaining payroll deductions, making proper disbursements, budgeting, record keeping, paying taxes and filing reports with authorities. Attendance is limited to 30 registrants and spaces will be filled on a first-come basis. The sessions will include all training and materials at no cost to the local. However, the local is responsible for all other costs associated with the treasurer’s attendance at the workshop. Lost time or salary, travel, hotel and meal expenses connected with attendance may be reimbursed if pre-approved by the membership at the local meeting as an allowable expense of the local. Help us plan accordingly and complete the workshop interest form to be among the first notified with location-specific details. Click here for a printable workshop flyer. For more information, call Alyssa Patchin at the TD offices or email apatchin@smart-union.org.
President Donald Trump nominated Erhard Chorle, a Chicago attorney, to serve a five-year term as chairman of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) on July 27. Chorle’s confirmation would fill a vacancy that was created in August 2015 by the retirement of Michael Schwartz after Schwartz’s 12 years as RRB chairman. Chorle serves as a partner in the corporate and business counseling practice group of Pedersen & Houpt in Chicago, and a biography published on Pedersen & Houpt’s website says Chorle specializes in corporate securities, regulatory and government advice and counsel. “It’s an honor to be nominated,” Chorle said when reached by email. According to his biography, Chorle served the Illinois state government as senior assistant to the director of labor, deputy secretary of state and as the state’s securities commissioner. He served as executive assistant for financial and regulatory affairs in Gov. Jim Edgar’s administration beginning in 1991 and had experience overseeing the state’s major financial regulations department, including banks, trusts and insurance, as well as the state’s various financing authorities and pension funds. Chorle also was chairman of the Illinois state Board of Investment, a $10 billion fund investing the assets of three Illinois state pension systems. He received his B.S. from DePaul University in 1978 and a juris doctorate from John Marshall Law School in 1984 and joined Pedersen & Houpt in July 2017. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Chorle’s term would run through Aug. 28, 2022.
The SMART Transportation Division elections set for this autumn have generated questions concerning the distribution of campaign material. The following information addresses questions posed by those considering running for office who wish to obtain membership lists for use in campaigning. Under U.S. Department of Labor rules, all candidates for union office have a right under the law to have campaign literature distributed to the membership by the union at the candidate’s expense. The union must honor requests for distribution of literature to all members in good standing. A member need not be formally nominated to be entitled to distribute campaign literature. Campaign material must be mailed out by the Local Secretary, Treasurer or Secretary-Treasurer upon request but must be furnished in envelopes which are already stuffed, sealed and with proper postage affixed. Each candidate must be treated equally with respect to the cost of distributing campaign literature. There is no requirement that the union distribute literature free of charge. However, if a union distributes any candidate’s literature without charge, all other candidates should be notified that they are also entitled to have their literature distributed without charge. If it is discovered that a candidate has used a “personal” mailing list which was created or obtained as a result of the candidate (or a supporter) serving as an officer or in a union job, the list should be made available to all other candidates. A union may not limit the number of mailings which a candidate is permitted to make. A union may require candidates to pay in advance for campaign literature distributions, if such requirement is applied uniformly to all candidates. A union may not regulate the contents of campaign literature it is asked to distribute and may not require that it be permitted to read the literature before distribution. The union may not censor campaign literature in any way, even if the literature includes derogatory remarks about other candidates. Bona fide candidates (i.e., those who have been nominated for office) can contact the office of the SMART Transportation Division president to receive mailing lists of their local’s or LCA’s voters. We do not provide email addresses or telephone numbers and, as a courtesy to our membership, it is our policy that phone numbers and email addresses should not be distributed or used in campaigning. This office can provide by email to duly nominated candidates a requested postal mailing list suitable for producing mailing labels. The minimum charge to obtain printed mailing labels is $66.40, with an extra charge of $0.0332 per label in excess of 2,000. A hard-copy printout of the list costs $50, with an additional $0.50 per 500 in excess of 2,000. The above covers time, material and use of equipment, plus postage where applicable. Requests for mailing lists should be addressed to SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich and can be emailed to president_td@smart-union.org, or candidates can call (216) 228-9400, and ask to speak to a representative in the President’s Department. This office will reach out to ensure the member requesting the information is a bona fide candidate. In addition, all candidates, upon request, must be granted access by the local secretary, treasurer or secretary-treasurer to inspect the voter eligibility list once within 30 days of the date of tabulation. No copies of the eligibility list are to be provided or carried away by the candidate. Additional questions should be directed to the office of the President of the Transportation Division.
Registration has opened for local treasurers who are interested in attending workshops where they will learn how to use the new TD Connect system to manage member records and to work the new eBill before the system’s Jan. 1, 2019, rollout. Follow the links below to register.
On Sunday, Sept. 2, dinner and speakers will kick off the annual Labor Day Eve feed 5:30 p.m. at the SMART Union Hall, 3333 S. 24th St. in Omaha, where parade shirts will be distributed.
Chorle’s confirmation would fill a vacancy that was created in August 2015 by the retirement of Michael Schwartz after Schwartz’s 12 years as RRB chairman.