SMART UnionThe so-called fiscal cliff bill approved by the House and Senate Jan. 1 allows extended railroad unemployment benefits to continue through Dec. 31, 2013, with Congress appropriating $250,000 to the Railroad Retirement Board to administer those extended benefits under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.
The extension affects those railroaders out of work at least six months.
Random alcohol and drug testing rates for railroad workers in safety sensitive positions will remain at the same rate during 2013 as 2012.
The Federal Railroad Administration said that because the random alcohol testing violation rate has remained below 0.5 percent for the past two years, the minimum random alcohol testing rate will remain at 10 percent for calendar year 2013.
The FRA also said that because the random drug testing violation rate has remained below 1 percent for the past two years, the minimum required annual random drug testing rate will remain at 25 percent for calendar year 2013.
Individual railroads, however, may require a higher rate of testing.
The UTU Board of Directors made additional appointments:
* UTU Alternate Vice President Troy Johnson becomes an International vice president, succeeding International Vice President Paul Tibbit, who retired Dec. 1.
* UTU Alternate Vice President John England becomes an International vice president, filling a position vacated by Strunk.
* Vice General Chairperson Jeremy Ferguson (CSX, GO 049) and General Chairperson Brent Leonard (Union Pacific, GO 953) become alternate vice presidents, filling the positions of alternate vice president vacated by Johnson and England.
Additionally, the United Transportation Union Insurance Association (UTUIA) Board of Directors elected Bruce Feltmeyer as general secretary and treasurer of UTUIA, succeeding Kim Thompson in that position. Feltmeyer also holds the position of director of staff at the UTU Headquarters in North Olmsted, Ohio.
Biographies of the new officers are available – or will become available in the case of Ferguson and Leonard – at http://www.utu.org/ by clicking on “About the UTU,” then clicking on “officers” and scrolling down to the names.
Feltmeyer’s biography is available at http://www.utu.org/ by clicking on “About the UTU,” then clicking on “UTU/UTUIA Staff” and scrolling down to his name.
UTU International Vice President Delbert Strunk, who recently was selected by the UTU Board of Directors to succeed Kim Thompson as International general secretary & treasurer Jan. 1, chose, instead, to retire Dec. 31.
Thompson previously announced his Dec. 31 retirement.
The UTU Board of Directors will meet to determine another successor to Thompson.
It is no secret that railroads have tried with all their king’s horsemen and all their king’s men (and women) to send to the dust bin of history the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), considered the best friend of rail workers in forcing carriers to improve workplace safety.
That 1908 law allows railroaders to recover civil compensatory and punitive damages when railroads fail to maintain a safe workplace, resulting in injury, dismemberment or death.
The latest assault on FELA was a backdoor escape attempt by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which sought to declare itself an instrumentality of the State of Pennsylvania, and thus immune, under the U.S. Constitution’s 11th Amendment’s sovereign immunity clause, from such lawsuits.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court termed the argument bogus, slamming that back door on SEPTA before it could wiggle out. Citing a history of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Pennsylvania’s highest court ruled that SEPTA, as every other railroad operating in interstate commerce, is and remains subject to FELA.
SEPTA had sought to force its injured workers to file for workers’ compensation under the state’s federal/state workers’ compensation law, rather than bring a lawsuit under provisions of FELA.
Ruled the Pennsylvania Supreme Court:
‘We discern no threat to the dignity of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania whenever a private individual commences a FELA suit in the courts of this Commonwealth, nor do we find the treasury of the Commonwealth to be threatened by a FELA suit in our courts. Accordingly, we conclude SEPTA is not an arm of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and thus not entitled to claim immunity under the Eleventh Amendment.”
In June 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court declined a railroad attempt to weaken FELA by tightening the standards of proof injured rail workers must demonstrate to win an award under FELA. Attempts by railroads to have Congress scuttle FELA have not progressed beyond a committee hearing stage.
The UTU, Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association and other rail labor organizations joined in bringing the SEPTA case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for final determination.
SEPTA commuter rail service was transferred from Conrail to SEPTA, which also provides commuter bus and transit services, in 1983.
To read the court’s decision, click here.
One of the strongest studies validating the need for two-person crews and intensive training for conductors has come from the Federal Railroad Administration.
The conclusion is that the conductor and engineer function as a team, with managing multiple priorities essential to safe train operation – especially with regard to use of positive train control technology that will be installed on some 40 percent of mainline track.
The FRA observes that such mixed territory operation will require a higher level of vigilance by the train crew, including detailed knowledge of territory that can come only from intensive conductor training.
“This study supports what the UTU has been advocating – that conductor training standards, system safety plans, fatigue management and risk reduction must be given the highest priority by railroads to ensure safe operation,” said UTU National Legislative Director James Stem.
The FRA study emphasizes that the conductor’s main task is to supervise overall operation and administration of the train, which involves communicating closely with the engineer regarding upcoming signals and slow orders, alerting the engineer to hills, curves and grade crossings, monitoring the engineer’s performance, providing back-up as needed, and handling all radio communications and paperwork “so that the locomotive engineer can concentrate on operating the train.
“Knowledge of the territory provides the foundation for being able to operate safely and efficiently,” says the FRA. “Train crews need to develop a detailed mental model of the physical territory in which they operate. This includes knowledge of territory grade, location of signals, milepost signs, grade crossing landmarks, sidings, switches and detectors, as well as knowledge of track layout of yards and location of industries.”
Conductors also must “monitor the composition of their train consist relative to key elements in the environment,” says the report. “For example, they need to maintain awareness of the location of the front and back of the train relative to grade crossings or speed restriction zones [and] whether their train will fit without blocking a crossing” as well as knowledge of high and wide cars and clearances and parallel track meets.
A conductor must be “a problem solver,” says the FRA, because “conductors routinely confront novel situations where they perform mental simulations to identify a correct solution. This skill develops with experience.”
For a conductor to perform at their highest level of skill, “it can take up to five years’ experience to gain sufficient experience to become a confident, expert conductor,” says the FRA. “Too much is at stake in terms of safety of the operation to permit short-cutting of experience and training,” said Stem.
The FRA endorses a combination of classroom training with on-the-job training, assuring that students spend time in the classroom learning, go out in the field to apply what they learned, and then return to the classroom to be tested. Proficiency based training with incremental blocks of training and testing before advancing is based on the science of knowledge transfer.
Regulations for conductor certification adopt many of these conclusions. This report confirms that territorial qualifications are an integral part of the functions of conductors and engineers and must be addressed as such. If the conductor has not obtained the necessary qualifications on a territory, a certified conductor with those qualifications must be added to the crew as a pilot.
Other conclusions in the study are that the operating crew must function as a team to properly manage the multiple safety requirements on a moving train, and the judgment of the operating crew is the most important safety appliance.
The UTU is monitoring closely railroad conductor certification plans, opposing one railroad’s plan to provide a pilot for territorial qualifications only for conductors who have not traveled over a territory for 36 months, rather than the 12 months required in current agreements. Some territories are so complex that operating crews are required to update their territorial qualifications every six months.
“The UTU will not permit a tortured interpretation” of congressional and FRA intent, and will work to ensure every railroad follows the letter and intent of the law and regulations prior to the deadline for certifying conductors,” said UTU International President Mike Futhey.
“The railroads tried to supersede 50 years of collective bargaining success with their filing on conductor certification. The UTU did not allow a new safety regulation to change the many common sense solutions that have been implemented during the past five decades,” Futhey said. “This report fully bolsters our position.”
To read the FRA report, click here.
Three actions announced by the FRA this month are intended to eliminate out-of-date duplicative paperwork for smaller railroads, as well as for engineers seeking dual engineer and conductor certification.
Among the changes proposed:
* Streamlining the process for certifying locomotive engineers by allowing engineers to use a single medical certificate for both the conductor and engineer certification processes.
* Implementation of electronic recordkeeping for smaller freight and commuter railroads, estimated to save some 200,000 hours of paperwork annually. Those carriers using electronic recordkeeping may manage their reports internally, rather than submitting every written report to the FRA.
* Those smaller railroads that do not shift to electronic recordkeeping will also be permitted to manage their reports internally rather than submitting every report to the FRA.
For Amtrak, Santa has been nice all year – if you forget the numerous and vicious attacks on Amtrak by outgoing House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica.
As we look back on 2012, Mica’s attacks were primarily theater, for the benefit of his conservative base, with about as much chance of Amtrak funding being cancelled, its Northeast Corridor being privatized or its higher-speed plans curtailed as there is of Santa landing on a snowy rooftop above Mica’s Florida home.
The realty of 2012 is that it was a banner year for Amtrak, as chronicled by the National Association of Rail Passengers. Here are some highlights:
* Passenger ridership is setting a record – not only for Amtrak, but for mass transit nationwide.
* In New England, Amtrak service was expanded to Freeport and Brunswick, Maine, while Northeast Regional train service has returned to Norfolk, Va.
* Faster and more frequent Amtrak service is on tap for Illinois, Michigan and North Carolina, with improvements allowing 110-mph service between Chicago and St. Louis and Chicago and Detroit advancing, plus California’s high-speed rail initiative is progressing toward initial construction linking Sacramento and Los Angeles.
* On the Northeast Corridor, Acela speeds will soon top out at 165-mph on portions of the route, with plans for post-Acela equipment acquisition and significant corridor infrastructure improvements becoming reality.
Meanwhile, Mica’s successor as chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee is Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), who actually rides Amtrak. In the Senate, Amtrak support remains strong among the Democratic majority and many Republicans.
Finally, we can expect continued support for expanded high-speed rail initiatives from President Obama, whose support for high- and higher-speed rail is stronger than any administration since Amtrak was created.
UnitedHealthcare has begun mailing a welcome kit to those rail members covered under the national railroad health & welfare plans who have enrolled in the Flexible Spending Account (FSA), to become effective Jan. 1, 2013.
The mailing includes a claim form, information as to how you can manage your account online and also reminds those individuals to complete and return the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) form enclosed in the kit.
This welcome kit is only being mailed to those eligible railroad employees who have already enrolled in the FSA.
Railroad employees who have elected to participate in the FSA Plan will receive a Summary Plan Description (SPD) booklet early next year.
If you would like additional information about this new benefit program, please contact UnitedHealthcare at (800) 842-9905.
By UTU International President Mike Futhey –
For many of our brothers and sisters in the Northeast, much was washed away by Hurricane Sandy – but not their hope, their pride or their sense of duty.
Despite the flood devastation that stole irreplaceable possessions, homes and automobiles – as it also devastated rail track, tunnels, passenger stations, signals, streets, power stations and rolling stock – UTU members on the front lines found their way to work to help protect equipment and restore service.
As their brothers and sisters, we should not ignore their hardship as they did not ignore the hardship of UTU brothers and sisters previously affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Isaac.
Helping each other is the core value of the union movement. As we march together, fight together and vote together for our job security, wages, benefits and working conditions, we also help each other in hours of need.
Almost $100,000 has been contributed so far by active and retired members, locals, general committees, state boards and the UTU International to the relief fund, which bears the name of 2005 Hurricane Katrina — a relief fund in place for this and future disasters affecting UTU members.
While the Sandy disaster is fading from the headlines, the needs of so many of our members remain, and additional donations are needed.
Consider some of the hardships.
Long Island Rail Road suffered significant damage from surging tides and high winds, with hundreds of our members losing possessions. Yet they showed up for work to move equipment to higher ground and restore service. For many UTU families, power and heat was non-existent for weeks after the storm, and precious hours were spent searching for functioning gasoline stations and waiting in line.
For members employed by Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH), many had automobiles that were flooded, damaged and destroyed. Still, they reported for work and helped restore service.
Members employed by New Jersey Transit had roofs blown from their houses and apartments, and suffered home and auto flood damage. Yet they did whatever was necessary to restore commuter service.
Members employed by Conrail in Northern New Jersey similarly suffered home and water damage, yet they also reported for work.
UTU-represented bus operators equally suffered, but were back behind the wheel when conditions permitted.
Incredibly, many of our members, personally devastated by the storm, reached into their own pockets to help purchase replacement toys for children in their communities who lost everything.
Let us now reach into our own pockets to help our brothers and sisters in distress who never abandoned their responsibilities to keep the region moving by bus and train.
Contributions should be sent to: Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, United Transportation Union, Suite 340, 24950 Country Club Blvd., North Olmsted, OH 44070-5333.
More information on the relief fund may be found on the UTU website home page at www.utu.org