CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall told West Virginia union leaders on Tuesday that people who believe cheaper, non-union labor is good for American business are “short-sighted.”
“Union labor also helps increase corporate America’s bottom line with your safety standards and the quality of your work,” Rahall said at the event hosted by the State Building Trades Council.
Read the complete story at the Charleston Gazette.
Author: matrixsuperadmin
Presidential Emergency Board 244 issued its recommendations Dec. 21 for settling a dispute between the Long Island Rail Road and its unionized employees represented by the SMART Transportation Division and several other labor unions.
The board’s recommendations are non-binding and the parties now have 120 days to reach agreement based on the recommendations.
The three board members recommended that the LIRR pay wage increase totaling 18.4 percent over six years (2.9 percent per year) and employees begin contributing to health insurance premium costs. After factoring in the recommended employee health insurance contributions, the board’s recommendations would still produce net wage increases of 2.5 percent per year.
“Obviously, I am satisfied with the board’s findings,” said SMART TD GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon. “The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Long Island Rail Road management had been demanding three years of ‘net zero’ wage increases and larger contributions to our health and welfare plans. They were also seeking numerous work-rule changes to our contract, which the board rejected. This is a ‘home run’ for the employees we represent.”
“All unions on LIRR will accept the board’s recommendations – although they’re not everything that we bargained for – so we can avoid any inconvenience to the riding public,” Simon said. “We hope the MTA will do the same.”
“I thank SMART General President Joe Nigro, SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich, Vice President John Lesniewski, Vice General Chairperson Vinnie Tessitore Jr. and the entire negotiating committee from GO 505 for their support and guidance during this process.”
In its report to the President Barack Obama, the board stated that, “It simply cannot be concluded that the MTA’s current financial position is one in which it is unable to pay for wage adjustments that are otherwise warranted.”
The board’s wage recommendations are retroactive to the first year of the contract dispute, which has been ongoing for more than three years. The board rejected MTA’s demand that workers accept three years of net zero wage increases, followed by two, two-percent increases over five years.
The board also rejected MTA’s demand for major concessions in pensions, including a permanent five percent employee contribution.
The PEB also rejected MTA’s demand that retirees begin paying for health insurance and that railroad retirement disability pensions be offset by LIRR’s pension payments.
PEB recommendations include that employees begin contributing to health insurance premium costs, beginning at one percent of 40 hours straight-time pay, at the contract’s opening date of June 16, 2010, and increasing by .25 percent increments each year thereafter. MTA had proposed larger employee contributions, while the affected unions had proposed no contributions from current employees.
If no agreement is reached, the company or the governor of New York can ask for a second PEB to be appointed, whose recommendations would also be non-binding. If no agreement between LIRR and its unions is reached following the second PEB’s recommendations, the unions would be free to strike.
Simon said he did not expect that a second PEB’s findings would be much different from that of the first.
The board’s recommendations come after holding hearings for a full week that began Dec. 2.
“After an intensive and relentless week of deliberations, I can say that our organization left no stones unturned during these proceedings,” Simon said at the time. “We presented an excellent case before the board and we are determined to fight for our members in order to obtain a fair and well-deserved agreement for all,” he said.
The board’s members included chairman Ira F. Jaffe, Roberta Golick and Arnold M. Zack.
To view the complete PEB report, click here.
JACKSON, Miss. – A whistleblower investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that Illinois Central Railroad Co., by conducting a disciplinary hearing, retaliated against a worker for reporting a work-related injury, which is in violation of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Federal Railroad Safety Act.
“Railroad workers have the legal right to report work-related injuries without fear of retaliation,” said Teresa A. Harrison, OSHA’s acting regional administrator in Atlanta. “Railroads that take such retaliatory actions against their workers for exercising basic rights will be held fully accountable and prosecuted.”
In this case, the conductor sustained injuries to the head, neck and back when falling into the bulkhead after the emergency brake was applied unexpectedly on a moving locomotive. The incident and injuries were reported immediately to the trainmaster. The complainant was taken by ambulance to the hospital, admitted and diagnosed with a closed-head injury.
As a result of its findings, OSHA has ordered Illinois Central Railroad Co. to pay $1,000 in punitive damages and to take corrective action, including expunging disciplinary actions and its references to them from various records. OSHA also ordered the railroad to compensate the worker for reasonable attorney’s fees. The railroad must also post and provide FRSA whistleblower rights to its workers.
Illinois Central and the complainant have 30 days from receipt of the findings to file an appeal with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges. Under FRSA, employees of a railroad carrier and its contractors and subcontractors are protected against retaliation for reporting on-the-job injuries, certain safety and security violations and for cooperating with investigations by OSHA and other regulatory agencies.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities, financial services, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, maritime, health care, food safety, motor vehicle safety, workplace safety and health regulations and consumer product safety laws.
Under the various whistleblower provisions enacted by Congress, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or who provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor for an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Programs. More information is available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
SMART Transportation Division Local 1715 bus operators employed by Transit Management of Charlotte, Inc., Dec. 12 ratified a three-year agreement with management, averting a possible strike.
The new agreement calls for annual wage increases, paid retroactively to July 1, plus the return of travel-time pay, a contract provision that previously had been negotiated away when the operators were represented by the Teamsters.
The contract also calls for an additional personal day and new bidding procedures during the run assignment that is more favorable to SMART membership.
The company is also required to use a health care provider supported by the union, or one that is comparable, resulting in a reduction in the health care contributions paid by our members.
SMART TD Alternate Vice President Calvin Studivant participated in the recent negotiations with Charlotte Area Transit System management when a strike by the operators appeared likely. He recognized the efforts of General Chairperson Kevin Moss, Vice General Chairpersons Hasson Trent and Brenda Moore, Local President Bruce Wright and General Committee Secretary William R. Brown for their tireless efforts in “resolving the issues at hand and working to get their members the best possible contract.”
Studivant also thanked Vice General Chairpersons Christy Kiser and Donell Taylor and Local Secretary & Treasurer Christopher Johnson for their roles in reaching the agreement.
“A lot of the bus operators here, we have families as well. We know the impact a strike would have caused on the people in the community,” said Moss.
“This has been a period of difficult negotiations, but we ended up with an agreement that’s within our financial parameters,” said Carolyn Flowers, CATS CEO.
We talk a lot about our national debt. But the largest debt we owe is to those who will come after us in this nation. Our fulfillment of that debt should underpin the actions we take right now.
Our national infrastructure forms the bedrock foundation upon which our economic future is built as America competes in the global marketplace. Railroads — both passenger and freight — are essential elements in the national transportation network that will help deliver future economic growth to communities across the country.
But for the rail network to function at its best, the rail industry must further improve safety.
Read more at USA Today.
NEW YORK – Two U.S. senators on Sunday called for expanded national railroad safety inspections, a day before a special federal safety team arrives in New York for a 60-day probe into operations on the Metro-North Railroad commuter train after the deaths of four passengers.
In light of the deadly Dec. 1 derailment, Sen. Charles Schumer said safety inspections are “woefully underfunded” and that the Federal Railroad Administration “simply doesn’t have enough resources to fully inspect our rail lines, to sufficiently prepare implementation of safety measures or even do safety spot checks around the country.”
Read more at SFGate.
A freight train carrying vehicles and commodities that overturned on railroad tracks near a north Tulsa community early Friday is being treated as an act of vandalism with company officials offering a $100,000 reward to help find the person responsible, officials said.
Joe Faust, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman, said the company is working with the Tulsa Police Department and the FBI after a coupling device was found detached from a railcar.
The company announced Friday evening that its “railway police” are offering a reward in the amount of $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for tampering with the parked train’s air brake system and causing what the company considers a “major derailment.”
Read more at Tulsa World.
WASHINGTON – Whistleblowers covered by one of 22 statutes administered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will now be able to file complaints online. The online form will provide workers who have been retaliated against an additional way to reach out for OSHA assistance online.
“The ability of workers to speak out and exercise their rights without fear of retaliation provides the backbone for some of American workers’ most essential protections,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Whistleblower laws protect not only workers, but also the public at large and now workers will have an additional avenue available to file a complaint with OSHA.”
Currently, workers can make complaints to OSHA by filing a written complaint or by calling the agency’s 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) number or an OSHA regional or area office. Workers will now be able to electronically submit a whistleblower complaint to OSHA by visiting https://www.osha.gov/whistleblower/WBComplaint.html.
The new online form prompts the worker to include basic whistleblower complaint information so they can be easily contacted for follow-up. Complaints are automatically routed to the appropriate regional whistleblower investigators. In addition, the complaint form can also be downloaded and submitted to the agency in hard-copy format by fax, mail or hand-delivery. The paper version is identical to the electronic version and requests the same information necessary to initiate a whistleblower investigation.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of 22 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities laws, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, public transportation, workplace safety and health, and consumer protection laws. Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights, including fact sheets and instructions on how to submit the form in hard-copy format, is available online at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
Click here to submit a complaint electronically.
Bus operators for Rutgers University’s inter-campus bus and shuttle system seeking union representation overwhelmingly chose the SMART Transportation Division Dec. 9 as their collective bargaining representative.
Among 112 eligible voters, 74 of the 80 operators participating in the union election chose SMART as their representative, while six voted for no union.
The bus service is managed by First Transit, Inc., based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
SMART TD Director of Organizing Rich Ross lauded the efforts of organizer and Alternate Bus Vice President Calvin Studivant saying, “Calvin just did an outstanding job. We had a meeting at Rutgers a couple of weeks ago and approximately 90 drivers attended. Calvin was well received during the meeting and was recognized for his efforts and for his knowledge of the bus industry.”
Studivant has more than 25 years of experience as a bus operator for Community Transportation in Clifton, N.J.
Ross also noted the efforts of Local President Waverly Harris and Vice Local President Brian Caldwell in assisting with the organizing campaign and helping drivers realize the benefits of union representation. Both are members of SMART TD Local 1594 at Upper Darby, Pa., employed by a division of Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA).
The Rutgers-New Brunswick/Piscataway inter-campus bus and shuttle system provides efficient and reliable transportation service for all five campuses. It is available to all members of the university community and the public.
According to First Transit’s website, the service is the second largest operating bus system in New Jersey, transporting more than 6 million passengers annually and providing more than 70,000 passenger trips per day. It operates approximately 50 transit buses that utilize bio-diesel fuel and Green Roads technology in an effort to reduce emissions and petroleum consumption.
JUNCTION CITY, OREGON — A bus used to drive Junction City School District students to and from school operated with front tires so worn that the cords underneath the tire tread were visible, state workplace safety regulators have found.
The bus company, First Student Inc., has acknowledged that the tires’ treads were too worn and fired a supervisor as a result. But the Ohio-based company has filed an appeal, disputing the amount of the fine — $3,800 — assessed by Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Division.
A hearing before an administrative law judge has yet to be scheduled, Oregon OSHA spokeswoman Melanie Mesaros said.
Read more at The Register-Guard.