Most of the historical plaques at Camden Yards are about particular players’ home-runs or Babe Ruth’s father’s tavern, but a new marker outside the ballpark pays tribute not to ballplayers but to workers whose names we’ll never know.
Unveiled yesterday, the sign on the Howard Street side of the old Camden train depot recalls the tens of thousands of people who joined in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, a protest against pay cuts and poor working conditions that started in Baltimore and Martinsburg, W.Va., then spread across the country, halting rail traffic and factory production and helping to launch the modern labor movement.
Read the complete story at The Baltimore Brew.
Author: paul
By Calvin Studivant,
Alternate Vice President, Bus –
Sleep apnea is a serious ailment and certainly one that should not go untreated. But it also should not be used to discriminate against our members, which it appears some carriers are doing.
There are reports from some of our locals that their carriers are more likely to try and get some of our members who have greater body mass index (BMI) to go for sleep studies as opposed to our slimmer brothers and sisters. The carriers who are doing this are certainly practicing discrimination and we will not stand by and allow this practice to continue.
Here are a few of the risk factors for sleep apnea: having a small upper airway; having a large neck (usually more than 17 inches for men and 16 inches for women.) and smoking.
A few of the symptoms of sleep apnea are: loud snoring; gasping and/or choking while sleeping; irritability or depression, or excessive daytime sleepiness.
Federal law clearly states that if, while doing your physical exam, the medical examiner detects a respiratory problem, he can request a polysomnography (sleep study) which is the only accurate way to diagnose sleep apnea and its severity.
In the event that you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, the following are treatment options: Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), which means wearing a mask over the nose during sleep so air pressure will keep the throat from collapsing; oral appliances, or devices that open the airway by bringing the lower jaw and tongue forward; surgery, which involves some risk.
Another important note is that states sets their own regulations when it pertains to sleep apnea. Each state has its own authority to suspend a commercial drivers license if the holder has sleep apnea. There are three levels of sleep apnea: mild, moderate or severe, and you must have moderate to severe to be disqualified.
I hope this answers some of your questions regarding this dreadful ailment. If more information is needed, we at the UTU are always ready to assist our membership.
By Mike Futhey,
SMART Transportation Division President –
Election day 2012 has passed, the celebration of an inauguration is done. Now what?
Complacency is not a luxury we can afford. Our fight is not over. After the candidates’ assurances of brighter days for labor, a continuation of “business as usual” is unacceptable. It will only perpetuate the process designed to lead to our demise.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. phrased it best in his “I Have a Dream” speech, exhorting “This is no time…to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”
There are treacherous sycophants roaming the political landscape like panthers in the night. Their objective: to introduce legislation to change the methodology for calculating votes on the state level.
Such legislation awards proportional votes based on the popular vote within the state. Prior to the election, Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate majority leader considered a proposal to move the state from an all-or-nothing contest to a proportional allocation based on winning specific congressional districts.
Had it been the law of the land during the 2012 presidential election, Mitt Romney would now be the President of the United States. The electoral vote would have resulted in a 276-262 margin in Romney’s favor, a 70-vote swing. All of this with President Obama winning the popular vote by nearly 5,000,000 votes, or 51.1 percent for Obama and 47.2 percent for Romney.
These individuals do not heed the observations of history and only view labor as an inconvenient expense to overcome in order to achieve the ultimate prize: greater profit.
Our nation’s economic future is contingent on putting America back to work, not the other way around.
At a meeting of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO last month, transportation union leaders rolled out a 2013 transportation investment and jobs agenda and condemned damaging cuts to transportation programs and jobs that are threatened by sequestration.
While meeting with the TTD, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said, “I appreciate today’s opportunity to meet with the Transportation Trades Department’s executive committee, and look forward to working with them and all parties interested in a stronger transportation network for our nation. By listening to a diverse set of opinions and working together to build consensus, we can improve America’s infrastructure, make us more competitive, and strengthen our economy.”
Let’s hope his statement was sincere.
The good news is that the power to protect our rights resides in our hands. Those targeted for demise, the members of SMART – along with all labor in America – have the numbers to steer the course.
Your support of our legislative department is essential. You can start by signing up for a UTU-SMART PAC donation, or, if you already participate, consider increasing your donation. If you are not already, become personally involved in local politics. Your contribution, through your labor and involvement, is what will lead to a healthy economic recovery.
The recent election celebrations are fading into history. Now we embrace history to deliver the future.
The National Association of Railroad Passengers, the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, Californians for High Speed Rail, and the Midwest High Speed Rail Association are urging Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to support XpressWest’s creation of a Los Angeles to Las Vegas high-speed rail line.
XpressWest currently has loan application pending with the Federal Railroad Administration through the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing program.
Congress established the RRIF loan program in 1998 to help support development of the U.S. rail system. Under the RRIF program, the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is authorized to provide direct loans and loan guarantees out of a $35 billion pool of revolving credit to help rail projects.
In a letter to LaHood, the four organizations cited the following factors in seeking his support:
•Los Angeles to Las Vegas is the second busiest end-point pair in the United States, trailing only Los Angeles to San Diego. The completion of XpressWest will be a critical step toward meeting the president’s goal of connecting 80 percent of the American public to modern intercity passenger trains within 25 years.
•XpressWest will provide a convenient, energy-efficient alternative to the heavily traveled Interstate-15, a congested and dangerous highway. Mid-desert traffic back-ups are fairly common. The initial 185-mile segment would have the capacity to divert more than 2 million annual automobile trips, saving an estimated 440,000 barrels of oil each year. The train would also provide a safer travel alternative: the Las Vegas to Los Angeles segment of Interstate 15 has been found to be one of the most dangerous highways in America, and a 2010 study found that 1,069 people died in 834 automobile accidents on the road over a 15 year period.
•It will help speed up and enhance the California high speed rail project with extensions to Palmdale (70 miles from Los Angeles; currently served by Metrolink commuter trains) where the two systems will seamlessly integrate, significantly increasing ridership on both systems, and increasing private sector interest in the California system to help fund further extensions.
•It will expand the market for American high-speed rail manufacturing.
•It is consistent with the desire of Americans for good train travel. This is reflected in the fact that Amtrak has set ridership records in nine of the last 10 years. Moreover, as a recent Brookings Institution report noted, Amtrak ridership from 1997 to 2012 at 55 percent grew faster than domestic aviation ridership (20 percent), highway vehicle-miles traveled (16.5 percent), U.S. population (17 percent) and real gross domestic product (37 percent).
“XpressWest is well suited for this program. This project is ready to go today, having already gained environmental clearance and secured the needed rights-of-way. Private investors have already assembled $1.5 billion in funds to support the project.
“With leadership from the private sector, we can be confident the project will be delivered quickly and efficiently, and managed with strong business practices. Because the nation’s high-speed rail network will be created through public-private partnership, this project offers the ideal model starter project to help move the nation’s new rail program forward,” the organizations’ leadership said.
The UTU’s Long Island Rail Road General Committee of Adjustment GO 505 is hosting it annual golf classic on May 13 to benefit families on Long Island affected by autism.
The gold classic will tee off at 9:30 a.m. at the Hamlet Wind Watch Golf & Country Club in Hauppauge, N.Y., and GO 505 is seeking both sponsors and participants for the event.
The cost for participation in the tournament is $225 per person, which includes breakfast, 18 holes of golf with cart, drinks, snacks, cocktails and buffet dinner with dessert.
Four sponsorship levels are available ranging in cost from $150 to $600.
To download a tournament registration and sponsorship form, click here.
A portion of GO 505’s golf tournament proceeds will support Autism Speaks, a leading autism science and advocacy organization dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism.
“We look forward to spending a day in solidarity with members from our organization as well as other labor organizations in our area. We also appreciate the support and friendship of businesses and associates we work with every day to provide safe and efficient transportation on Long Island,” said GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon.
The number of tournament participants is limited. All golf reservations will be honored on a first-come, first-served basis.
For more information, contact GO 505 Vice General Chairperson Vinnie Tessitore at (631) 661-3500.
To learn more about Autism Speaks, visit www.autismspeaks.org.
The National Transportation Safety Board has issued 12 new safety recommendations as a result of its investigation of the Sept. 30, 2010, collision of two freight trains near Two Harbors, Minn.
The NTSB recommendations were issued to the following organizations: the Federal Railroad Administration, Canadian National Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, Kansas City Southern Railway Company, Norfolk Southern Railroad, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, BNSF Railway, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the United Transportation Union.
In a letter to SMART Transportation Division (UTU) President Mike Futhey, NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman requested that UTU “work with the Canadian National Railway and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, to develop and implement a non-punitive peer audit program for the Canadian National Railway’s North Division, focused on rule compliance and operational safety.
“The NTSB is vitally interested in this recommendation because it is designed to prevent accidents and save lives.”
“The safety of our members and all railroad employees, as well as the general public, is of the utmost concern to the UTU and we intend to work with CN and the BLET to implement the NTSB’s recommendation,” Futhey said.
Additional NTSB recommendations can be found here.
The NTSB is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in other modes of transportation, including railroad, highway, marine, and pipeline.
The NTSB determines the probable cause of the accidents and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents. In addition, it carries out special studies concerning transportation safety and coordinates the resources of the federal government and other organizations to provide assistance to victims and their family members affected by major transportation disasters.
After more than two years of negotiations, three UTU-SMART general committees representing some 2,300 Amtrak members have reached a deal with the passenger carrier on a new contract.
General Chairpersons Bill Beebe, Robert Keeley and Dirk Sampson represent Amtrak conductors, assistant conductors, yardmasters and dining car stewards.
The parties first began negotiations in 2010 and were initially unable to resolve their differences on the terms and conditions of a new contract. After a number of sessions, the services of the National Mediation Board were requested and a Federal mediator was assigned.
UTU-SMART Assistant President John Previsich, who assisted in the negotiations, said that, although the progress remained slow and difficult, the mediator was ultimately successful in moving the parties forward to a satisfactory conclusion.
The tentative agreements must now be ratified by affected members under provisions of the UTU (SMART Transportation Division) Constitution. Ballots are going out by mail and the tentative deadline for the return of ballots is April 10.
The proposed agreements follow the pattern of pay increases and health & welfare modifications reached by other organizations in earlier settlements. The increases are effective beginning back to 2010 and, as a result, employees covered by the new agreements will receive a significant amount of back pay once the contract is ratified, Previsich said.
“In addition, the parties were successful in resolving the difficult issue of financial recognition for the increased obligations and rule modifications that are required by Federal certification of conductors,” Previsich said.
General Chairpersons Beebe, Keeley and Sampson thanked Previsich for his assistance during the negotiations and also pointed to the valuable contributions and perseverance of Vice General Chairpersons Gary Hopson, Charlie Yura and Charles Fowler.
“I commend Chairpersons Keeley, Sampson and Beebe for the professionalism and dedication to the membership exhibited during this very difficult round of negotiations,” Previsich said. “Their commitment, along with the knowledge and contributions of the vice general chairpersons, resulted in tentative agreements that stand as testimony to the value of working together for the benefit of the men and women who we represent.”
WASHINGTON – The Amtrak Board of Directors has elected Anthony R. Coscia to be its next chairman to help guide the future of the railroad and carry out initiatives to increase ridership and improve operational and financial performance. In addition, the Amtrak board elected Jeffrey R. Moreland as vice-chairman.
An Amtrak board member since June 2010, and current chairman of its Audit and Finance committee, Coscia succeeds departing board chairman Thomas C. Carper whose term on the board expires this month.
“During my five years on the board of directors, Amtrak has made undeniable progress and all board members have worked together successfully, and in bipartisan fashion, to improve our nation’s intercity passenger rail service,” said Carper.
“I am confident Tony and Jeff will provide effective leadership, continue what is working while promoting new initiatives and work closely with President and CEO Joe Boardman to further transform Amtrak so it better delivers on its national mission to provide connectivity and mobility across the country,” Carper added.
“It is an honor to serve as Amtrak’s next chairman and I thank the Obama administration and many members from both houses of Congress whose support for Amtrak has been invaluable,” Coscia said. “On behalf of the Board and Amtrak’s employees I also want to thank Tom Carper and Nancy Naples for their exemplary service as their terms as board members come to an end.”
“As chairman, I am committed to increasing ridership, strengthening Amtrak’s operational performance and improving its financial position,” he explained. “Over the many years that I have been involved in infrastructure, and especially over my last three years on Amtrak’s board, I have come to recognize that passenger rail is vital to America’s economic growth and to addressing our nation’s growing need for mobility and connectivity.”
Since joining Amtrak’s board, Coscia has strongly supported investments in America’s national rail network. In particular, he is a strong advocate for making improvements to rail corridors that link the nation’s urban centers, such as the Northeast Corridor, and that connect parts of the country underserved by other modes of transit. He also supports investments in rail infrastructure so it can handle more trains and carry more passengers at higher speeds.
Coscia brings to the position an extensive background, including previously serving as chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and experience in redevelopment finance and corporate governance. Currently, he is a partner at the law firm of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP.
Jeffrey Moreland also has been an Amtrak board member since June 2010 and is the chairman of its Government Affairs and Legal & Corporate Affairs committee. He succeeds Nancy Naples as vice-chairman. He enjoyed a long career at BNSF Railway including several senior management positions in law and government affairs, and most recently as executive vice president for public affairs.
“I look forward to continuing to work with Tony, the other board members and Joe Boardman and his management team. I believe all of us working together will allow Amtrak to continue to make progress in achieving our goals,” said Moreland.
“The success of Amtrak is, in part, a result of the strong and collaborative relationship between management and the board of directors,” said President and CEO Joe Boardman. “Tony and Jeff have always brought both passion and solutions to the discussion and their leadership will help carry Amtrak into the future and to continued improvements.”
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has been ordered to pay $350,000 and reinstate a worker who federal regulators say was fired after reporting an injury to the railroad.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday that the payment the railroad owes would compensate the employee for back pay and damages.
Read the complete story at Businessweek.
The 9th Circuit on March 13 revived claims that corruption led an arbitration panel to fire a railroad conductor for allegedly drinking on the job.
Richard Kite, a 27-year employee of the BNSF Railway Co., was fired in 2005 after being cited twice in 10 years for reporting to work under the influence of alcohol. Kite and the United Transportation Union appealed the dismissal internally. Kite claimed that he had been drinking the night before he took the breathalyzer test that got him fired, but was not under the influence when he arrived at work.
Read the complete story at Courthouse News Service.