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OSHA logo; OSHAHere we go again – or should we say, again and again and again and again.

This time it is Canadian National’s Illinois Central Railroad and short line Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad that have been hit with more than $650,000 in sanctions by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for retaliating against three employees who reported workplace injuries and/or safety concerns.

Sadly, there is basis in fact for the refrain that no industry spends as much to hire and train new employees as do railroads and then works so hard to intimidate, harass and fire them.

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said the more than $650,000 in sanctions is to go toward back wages and damages for two Illinois Central employees at the railroad’s Markham, Ill., yard, and a Chicago, Ft. Wayne and Eastern employee — all of whom were the targets of management retaliation in three separate incidents.

“It is critically important that railroad employees in the Midwest and across the nation know that OSHA intends to defend the rights of workers who report injuries and safety concerns,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor Dr. David Michaels. “We will use the full force of the law to make sure that workers who are retaliated against for reporting health and safety concerns are made whole.”

Michaels has said that before, in the wake of its investigations and sanctions against other railroads – and OSHA continues to deliver on its promise.

The Federal Rail Safety Act of 1970 extended whistleblower protection to employees retaliated against for reporting an injury or illness requiring medical attention. The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 added additional requirements ensuring injured workers receive prompt medical attention. An employer is outright prohibited from disciplining an employee for requesting medical or first-aid treatment, or for following a physician’s orders, a physician’s treatment plan, or medical advice, or for reporting workplace safety concerns.

Retaliation, including threats of retaliation, is defined as firing or laying off, blacklisting, demoting, denying overtime or promotion, disciplining, denying benefits, failing to rehire, intimidation, reassignment affecting promotion prospects, or reducing pay or hours.

OSHA, which does not identify whistleblowers, said the first employee, a conductor, was injured in August 2008 when he was knocked unconscious and sustained injuries to his shoulder, back and head while switching railcars in Illinois Central’s Markham, Ill., yard. A knuckle that connects the cars allegedly broke, said OSHA, causing the cars to suddenly jolt and the employee to fall. The railroad held an investigative hearing and consequently terminated the conductor, alleging he had violated safety rules. 

OSHA, however, found that the worker was terminated in reprisal for reporting a work-related injury.

The second employee, a carman, reported an arm/shoulder injury in February 2008. While walking along a platform to inspect railcars in the poorly lit yard, said OSHA, the carman slipped on ice and tried to catch himself, which jolted his left arm and shoulder. The railroad held an investigative hearing and consequently terminated the carman for allegedly violating the company’s injury reporting procedures.

OSHA, however, concluded that the carman had properly reported the injury.

 In the third incident, OSHA said Chicago Fort Wayne & Eastern Railroad – a RailAmerica property — wrongly terminated a conductor in retaliation for his raising concerns about workplace safety while serving as a union officer, and for reporting a trainmaster had instructed him to operate a train in violation of certain Federal Railroad Administration rules in June 2009 near Fort Wayne, Ind.

UTU designated legal counsel have pledged to investigate and assist UTU members in bringing complaints under these laws.

A rail employee may file a whistle-blower complaint directly with OSHA, or may contact a UTU designated legal counsel, general chairperson or state legislative director for assistance.

A listing of UTU designated legal counsel is available at:

https://www.smart-union.org/td/designated-legal-counsel/

or may be obtained from local or general committee officers or state legislative directors.

To view a more detailed OSHA fact sheet, click on the following link:

www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA-factsheet-whistleblower-railroad.pdf

Amtrak LogoHere is an update on federal funding to keep Amtrak operating.

The House of Representatives in June approved a transportation funding bill — for the 12-month fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 — that includes $1.8 billion for Amtrak (H.R. 5972).

This is an almost $400 million increase over fiscal-year 2012 funding that ends Sept. 30, but $300 million less than Amtrak sought.

The ball is now in the Senate court, with the Senate Appropriations Committee having voted a $1.45 billion appropriation for Amtrak. That committee action awaits a vote by the entire Senate. If the entire Senate does approve that level of funding – $350 million less than the House approved – the House and Senate versions will go to a conference committee of House and Senate members for a final decision.

There are two other differences between the bill approved by the entire House and the bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The House voted not to provide any funding for high speed rail initiatives or other grant programs that could benefit Amtrak. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to fund $100 million for high speed rail and another $500 million for separate grants that would benefit Amtrak.

The legislative process has been in almost total gridlock owing to partisan politics, and that gridlock may become worse as Election Day in November approaches. If no new funding legislation is approved by the House and Senate prior to the start of the new federal fiscal year Oct. 1, it is likely that Congress will pass a continuing appropriations bill, whose spending levels each month match the fiscal year 2012 funding levels. Otherwise, Amtrak would run out of funds and have to shut down.

Many congressional experts expect the partisan gridlock to continue past Election Day. Whether a lame-duck Congress will act after the elections (if they don’t pass a new funding bill for Amtrak before then), or await the seating of a new Congress in January to do so cannot be predicted.

OSHA logo; OSHAFollowing almost 1,000 complaints from rail workers that they were improperly disciplined for reporting injuries or unsafe working conditions, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have forged an alliance to bring more pressure on railroads to stop the pattern of harassment and intimidation.

“The safety of railroad employees depends on workers’ ability to report injuries, incidents and hazards without fear of retaliation,” said OSHA.

Between 2007 and 2012, OSHA received more than 900 whistleblower complaints under the Federal Rail Safety Act, and almost 63 percent involved an allegation that a worker was retaliated against for reporting an on-the-job injury.

The Federal Rail Safety Act of 1970 extended whistleblower protection to employees retaliated against for reporting an injury or illness requiring medical attention. The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 added additional requirements ensuring injured workers receive prompt medical attention. An employer is outright prohibited from disciplining an employee for requesting medical or first-aid treatment, or for following a physician’s orders, a physician’s treatment plan, or medical advice.

Retaliation, including threats of retaliation, is defined as firing or laying off, blacklisting, demoting, denying overtime or promotion, disciplining, denying benefits, failing to rehire, intimidation, reassignment affecting promotion prospects, or reducing pay or hours.

Under the coordination agreement, the FRA will refer railroad employees who complain of alleged retaliation to OSHA. OSHA will provide the FRA with copies of the complaints it receives under the Federal Rail Safety Act’s whistleblower provision, as well as any findings and preliminary orders that OSHA issues. The agencies will jointly develop training to assist FRA enforcement staff in recognizing complaints of retaliation, and to assist OSHA enforcement staff in recognizing potential violations of railroad safety regulations revealed during whistleblower investigations.

“This memorandum is a watershed moment for both railroads and labor alike,” said FRA Administrator Joe Szabo. “Securing a process that protects employees who report safety violations is critical to maintaining safety standards in the workplace.”

In recent months OSHA has ordered railroads to pay millions of dollars in sanctions for violating federal whistleblower protections. “Firing workers for reporting an injury is not only illegal, it also endangers all workers,” OSHA said. In imposing sanctions against Norfolk Southern in 2011, OSHA said the railroad’s culture of employee harassment and intimidation permitted the railroad to “maintain the appearance of an exemplary safety record.”

UTU designated legal counsel have pledged to investigate and assist UTU members in bringing complaints under these laws.

A rail employee may file a whistle-blower complaint directly with OSHA, or may contact a UTU designated legal counsel, general chairperson or state legislative director for assistance.

A listing of UTU designated legal counsel is available at:

https://www.smart-union.org/td/designated-legal-counsel/

or may be obtained from local or general committee officers or state legislative directors.

To view a more detailed OSHA fact sheet, click on the following link:

www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA-factsheet-whistleblower-railroad.pdf

The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has reported to Congress that, barring a sudden, unanticipated, large drop in railroad employment or substantial investment losses, it will experience no cash-flow problems over the next 23 years. 

The report recommended no change in the rate of tax imposed by current law on employers and employees. 

The RRB is required by law to submit annual financial reports and triennial actuarial valuations to Congress on the financial condition of the Railroad Retirement System, as well as annual financial reports on the railroad unemployment insurance system. 

As of Sept. 30, 2011, total Railroad Retirement System assets totaled $23.6 billion. 

The cash balance of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance system was $58.7 million at the end of fiscal year 2011. 

Projecting income and outgo under optimistic, moderate and pessimistic employment assumptions, the valuation indicated no cash-flow problems occur throughout the 75-year projection period under the optimistic and moderate assumptions. Cash-flow problems only occurred under the pessimistic assumption, but not until 2035. 

The RRB’s 2012 Railroad Unemployment Insurance financial report was also generally favorable. Even as maximum benefit rates increase 44 percent (from $66 to $95) from 2011 to 2022, experience-based contribution rates are expected to keep the unemployment insurance system solvent, except for small, short-term cash flow problems in fiscal year 2015 under the pessimistic assumption.

By James Stem, 
UTU National Legislative Director – 

Coal is America’s most abundant source of energy, helping reduce our nation’s dependence on imported oil.

Coal also means jobs, with almost one in every five freight rail jobs dependent on transporting coal. And coal means high-paying jobs for coal miners, power plant workers and the building trades, who build, maintain and update coal-fired generating plants.

Troubling is that coal – and this means American jobs — is under attack within the Environmental Protection Agency and from some in Congress who want to impose such stringent new emissions regulations that as many as one-third of our coal-fired power plants could be closed and no new ones built. That puts thousands of jobs on the line.

This debate will continue until the process is discovered to allow carbon-dioxide gases from coal to be captured and used productively.

Railroads, coal producers, the electric power industry, rail labor and other labor organizations agree there is a better way to improve air quality than regulations so stringent that coal production would plummet and large numbers of coal-related jobs would disappear.

The UTU’s National Legislative Office and state legislative directors are working with these allied interests to educate federal regulators and Congress on the issues, and explain the harm that could come to rail employment, the Railroad Retirement system and other segments of the American economy from stringent new regulations limiting carbon dioxide emissions from new coal-fired generating plants.

A coalition of unions, including the UTU, are members of Union Jobs and the Environment (http://www.ujae.org/), working to ensure coal remains an important part of America’s energy mix.

Environmental science is complex. Seldom do solutions proposed by environmental scientists weigh economic considerations, such as the impact on American jobs from limiting the use of coal by electric utilities.

Other environmental scientists propose a more balanced and flexible approach that would achieve comparable reductions in harmful emissions while protecting rail and other coal-related jobs. Our mission is to educate decisions makers and opinion leaders as to the costs of acting without considering economic impacts and alternatives that are equally effective in improving air quality.

We support a new approach by the Obama administration that has awarded federal research funds to nine universities to develop new clean coal technologies that will permit the continued use of American coal. We are disappointed that the amount of research dollars is not significantly greater.

Coal loadings are second only to trailers and containers in the number of carloads hauled by railroads. Some 45 percent of railroad tonnage is represented by coal, which does more than provide low-cost energy and American energy security.

Coal means high-paying jobs with benefits, and the UTU is working diligently with our partners to protect those jobs.

Train, engine and mechanical forces represented by the UTU on shortline Western Rail Road in Texas are voting on a tentative new agreement reached with mediation assistance from the National Mediation Board.

An October tentative agreement was rejected by affected members, leading to participation of the NMB in this renewed round of negotiations. Affected members will be voting through Aug. 3.

Negotiations were led by UTU Vice President Paul Tibbit and UTU General Chairperson Doyle Turner (GO 347), who heads the UTU’s shortline outreach program.

“This tentative agreement, as with others negotiated with shortlines, is intended to bring parity in wages, benefits and work rules to the thousands of employees in the short line railroad industry, along with the many other protections offered by union membership,” Turner said. “The seniority, scope and discipline rules these members now enjoy are what makes union membership valuable.”

Western Rail Road, owned by Cemex, connects a quarry and cement plant at Dittlinger with Union Pacific’s Austin, Texas, subdivision. Dittlinger is four miles south of New Braunfels and about 50 miles south of Austin.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The UTU Transportation Safety Team is assisting the National Transportation Safety Board in investigating a fiery explosion following a Norfolk Southern derailment here July 11. Sixteen of 98 cars carrying ethanol, corn syrup and grain left the tracks around 2 a.m.

There were no injuries among the crew, but two nearby residents were slightly injured when the ethanol in three of the tank cars leaked and exploded into flame.

A witness said it looked as if the sun had fallen onto the tracks where the derailment and explosions occurred. About 100 nearby residents were evacuated from their homes during the height of the fire.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — UTU-represented members employed as bus operators by the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District have become “the highest-paid bus operators in America” following ratification of a new three-year labor agreement, said Bonnie Morr, vice president of the UTU Bus Department.

UTU Local 23 members ratified two agreements – the one by bus operators, and a second affecting drivers who perform services for the disabled.

Leading the negotiations were General Chairperson Eduardo Montesino and Vice Chairpersons Jason Andrews, Daniel Zaragosa, Todd Pinsky and Sergio Tabag. Morr provided negotiating assistance.

“These negotiations brought a balance to a workforce that had a 37-day strike in 2005 in order to obtain benefits that been denied them over the years,” Morr said.

A two-day training program on handling radioactive cargo traveling by rail will be conducted by the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md., Aug. 17-18.

The Modular Emergency Response Radiological Transportation Training (MERRTT) course will be taught by officials from the Department of Energy. The course will be taught from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., both days.

Rail workers interested in attending this training must secure the time off from their employer, and confirm participation to attend by completing a registration form that includes a clear copy of your driver’s license or other government-issued identification. Use the following link to obtain the registration form:

http://www.nlc.edu/~bcantrell/register_radiological.htm

The completed registration form should be e-mailed to sroundtree@nlc.edu, or sent via facsimile to (301) 628-0165. 

Upon receipt of a completed registration form, participants will be sent a confirmation letter with information on travel, room and board. A federal grant pays for transportation, room and board for each training participant.
 
If you have any questions or desire additional information, email sroundtree@nlc.edu, or call (301) 628-4858.

High-speed rail has been given an energy-boosting vitamin B-12 shot by the California legislature and Amtrak for separate projects on the West and East Coasts.

In California, the legislature agreed to spend $6 billion to build the first 130-mile leg of a 520-mile high-speed line – with an estimated cost of some $68 billion — that eventually will connect Sacramento with San Francisco and Los Angeles. Gov. Jerry Brown, who has staked his political reputation on high-speed rail for California, is expected to sign the spending bill into law.

In Washingotn, D.C., Amtrak announced a formal vision for 220-mph travel along the entire Northeast Corridor.

This first 130-mile leg of California high-speed rail, in California’s Central Valley, will connect Madera with Bakersfield. Previously, California voters authorized a $9.95 billion bond measure as a down-payment on the projected $68 billion route, with the U.S. Department of Transportation providing $3.2 billion in federal grants. The funds voted by the state legislature will come from bond sales and be mated with already approved $3.2 billion in federal grants to total $5.8 billion for the Central Valley leg of the project.

The New York Times reported in November 2011:

“[While] for many Californians, struggling through a bleak era that has led some people to wonder if the state’s golden days are behind it, this project goes to the heart of the state’s pioneering spirit, recalling grand public investments in universities, water systems, roads and parks that once defined California as the leading edge of the nation.

“[Gov. Brown] has enthusiastically embraced the plan, no matter that at 73, he seems unlikely to be around for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that is projected to be more than 20 years away. ‘California’s high-speed rail project will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, linking California’s population centers and avoiding the huge problems of massive airport and highway expansion,’ Mr. Brown said.”

President Obama has been the strongest proponent of high-speed rail advances in America, advocating a nationwide 17,000-mile network of high-speed and higher-speed trains that could provide 80 percent of the American population access to train travel by 2036.

Amtrak, meanwhile, unveiled its formal vision for 220-mile train travel – by 2040 – along the 438-mile Northeast Corridor linking Washington, D.C. with Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.

The $151 billion improvement plan over the decades-long period of construction would require substantial federal and state financial support to assure – on “NextGen” named trains — 94 minute travel times between Washington, D.C., and New York and between New York and Boston. The Washington-New York trip current requires almost three-hours travel time and almost four hours between New York and Boston.

Some 40,000 new construction jobs annually, for 25 years, would result, says Amtrak.

Amtrak’s vision includes direct rail links to airports at Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, N.J., and White Plains, N.Y.

“The vision we will shape with the Northeastern states, Amtrak and all of our stakeholders will outlast the vagaries of politics, budgets and critics,” said Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo.