WASHINGTON – Buses manufactured over the past two decades by Motor Coach Industries (MCI) are the object of a federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into whether drives shafts can dislodge during operation and cause bus operators to lose control of the coach.
The investigation is focusing on 4,000 MCI D-Series buses with a steerable rear axle and manufactured between 1992 and 2012.
The Associated Press reports that the loss of a drive shaft is thought to have caused two fatal crashes.
FirstGroup America, which operates Greyhound, alleges that several drive shafts became dislodged from MCI buses over the past two years, causing drivers to lose control.
A training course in safe handling of radioactive material transported by rail is offered April 26-28 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md. The course is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The college says that with the number of rail shipments of radioactive materials expected to increase in coming years, there is increased risk for rail incidents involving that hazardous material, and thus a need for this training.
A federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences will provide transportation, lodging and meals for training participants. The training will be conducted on the George Meany Campus of the National Labor College. Silver Spring, Md., is just outside Washington, D.C.
For more information and an application for attendance, click on the following link:
On behalf of members employed by BNSF, the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) have asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate the railroad’s new medical reporting policy, which the organizations say is discriminatory and violates federal law by requiring workers to provide highly personal medical information.
BNSF is demanding employees report off-duty medical procedures and issues. This highly personal information is protected, and BNSF has no statutory right to view the information, the UTU and SMWIA said in their complaints.
The discrimination complaints filed with the EEOC allege BNSF is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act, the Civil Rights Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act by requiring, since Jan. 1, 2012, that employees provide the railroad with doctor’s notes, diagnostic test results and hospital discharge summaries.
“Each day that BNSF’s policy remains in effect, more employees face the likelihood of having their statutory rights violated,” the UTU and SMWIA told the EEOC. “And once an employee’s rights are violated – that is, once BNSF has been notified of the away-from-work medication condition or event and has obtained the employee’s statutorily-protected medical information – there is no way to undo the violation.”
Additionally, said the UTU and SMWIA in their complaint, the medical information that BNSF requires employees to provide is information likely to reveal a disability and is neither job related nor consistent with business necessity, and is likely to result in BNSF obtaining genetic information. Moreover, the BNSF policy discriminates against women affected by pregnancy and/or related medical conditions.
Other labor organizations have filed a similar complaint with the EEOC.
Sadly, there is a part of “no” that railroads just can’t understand. So, once again, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has hit a railroad in the wallet for violating an employee’s rights as protected under the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, which was supplemented by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
The latest wallet-lightening fine was imposed by OSHA against Union Pacific for retaliating against a Pocatello, Idaho, based locomotive engineer who was forced to work and prevented from seeking medical treatment for a migraine headache, blurred vision, dizziness, vomiting and a bloody nose.
OSHA found that the engineer’s supervisor – who also was ordered to pay a portion of the fine – used “threats and intimidation to dissuade the engineer from seeking or gaining access to medical care during his shift.”
Yes, the UP supervisor chose to order an ill locomotive engineer, whose situational awareness was clearly compromised, to operate the train.
Said OSHA in imposing more than $25,000 in punitive and compensatory damages, plus attorney fees: “It is critically important that Union Pacific Railroad employees know that OSHA intends to defend the rights of workers to report safety concerns. We will bring the full force of the law to make sure workers who are retaliated against for reporting health and safety concerns are made whole.”
Incredibly, this was the sixth time since 2009 that OSHA has found Union Pacific in violation of an employee’s rights enumerated by the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 and the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. BNSF, Metro North Railroad, Norfolk Southern and Wisconsin Central also have been penalized by OSHA for similar violations.
In late 2011, Union Pacific was ordered immediately to reinstate an employee and pay him back wages, compensatory and punitive damages and attorney fees totaling more than $300,000 after the employee was suspended, without pay, and then terminated after notifying UP of an on-the-job injury.
The Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 extended whistleblower protection to employees who are 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, and established prohibitions on carrier intimidation and harassment of injured workers aimed at ending a culture that placed the winning of carrier safety awards and year-end managerial bonuses as a higher priority than treatment and prevention of injuries.
The purpose of these laws — passed by Congress after the UTU documented a railroad culture of harassment and intimidation against injured and ill workers — is to protect rail workers from retaliation and threats of retaliation when they report injuries or illness, report that a carrier violated safety laws or regulations, or if the employee refuses to work under certain unsafe conditions or refuses to authorize the use of safety related equipment.
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.
Earlier this year, OSHA elevated in agency priority its whistleblower protection efforts, placing enforcement directly under OSHA’s assistant secretary of labor. OSHA said the elevation was an effort “to strengthen employees’ voices in the workplace.”
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.
WASHINGTON – A two-year blueprint for transportation spending has emerged from the Senate, but House action still is required before a bill is ready for President Obama’s signature into law.
Notwithstanding the headlines, the Senate’s passage of the two-year S. 1813, “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” (MAP 21), is but one congressional action necessary before Amtrak, bus, transit, high-speed rail and commuter airlines will see any new federal dollars flow their way.
The focus now shifts to the House of Representatives, which previously failed in an effort to pass a multi-year transportation spending authorization bill. There was speculation that the House would simply let the Senate act and then vote the Senate bill. That now may not be the case, and the entire matter of a multi-year transportation authorization bill continues to be enveloped in a fog.
Here’s what’s important:
The Senate bill delivers flexible spending options to transit systems, meaning they can use funds otherwise and earlier earmarked for new equipment instead to maintain service and bring furloughed workers back to the job. Recall that conservatives in the House opposed such flexibility. The Senate approval of that provision will make it more difficult for House conservatives to succeed on that issue. (One might hope House conservatives will view reality differently now — especially given that 85 percent of transit systems have been forced to cut service or furlough workers in the face of record ridership as gasoline prices soar In many cases, new buses sit idle because their are no funds to employ the drivers).
Additionally, MAP 21, as approved by the Senate:
* Continues the use of a portion of the highway-fuels tax for transit subsidies — another provision that House conservatives oppose.
* Instructs the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop a long-range national plan for further development of high-speed rail. House conservatives oppose additional spending on high-speed rail.
* Includes provisions to strengthen Amtrak and improve Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor linking Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. House conservatives want to privatize Amtrak; and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said this week he would seek to end all federal support for Amtrak.
* Authorizes additional federal dollars for transit passenger safety and security efforts, including additional transit-worker training.
* Rejects privatization initiatives that would open transit system employment to non-union operators intent on cutting wages and benefits.
* Strengthens “Buy America” requirements for new transit equipment and projects.
Job briefings can prevent serious injuries and fatalities, says the Federal Railroad Administration in a switching fatalities and severe injury update. The FRA cites 23 fatalities that have occurred as a result of what it terms “inadequate job briefings.”
The FRA offers the following tips for “an effective job briefing”:
* First, a job briefing is different from a safety briefing. A job briefing is specific to upcoming work and its interrelated and independent tasks. A safety briefing is more general, often occurring at the beginning of a shift
* Ongoing communication is crucial among employees during the entire time switching operations are being performed, including periods when tasks are changing or when anomalies occur. Thus, it is important always to monitor work-in-progress, especially for anomalies. When work changes occur, the employees involved may not maintain current with these changes. They may be unaware of the tasks to be performed, and this may place them in peril.
* All crew members should be empowered to stop work and request a job briefing
* A job briefing is a two-way exchange of information to reach an understanding of the tasks being performed. All should participate in the job briefing, regardless of seniority. All should be heard about concerns of upcoming work. All should understand the exact nature of work to be performed
* A job briefing cannot be standardized, generalized or simply rule based. Switching acts can be unique to circumstances and location. A briefing must be adequate and specific to the acts. Fatalities have resulted even after a job briefing because the briefing was not adequate
* At a minimum, a job briefing should include:
* Who will act * What act is to be done * Where the act will occur * When the act will occur * Why the act is being done
* An effective job briefing can prevent harm to employees monitoring switching operations for anomalies from what was planned. Stopping work when appropriate, and holding an effective job briefing, are part of safe operating practices.
For more information on FRA safety advisories, click on the following link:
Positive train control (PTC) is modern technology to reduce train accidents, save lives and limbs, improve on-time performance and produce revenue-enhancing business benefits for railroads.
PTC utilizes the satellite global positioning system (GPS), wireless communications and central control centers to monitor trains and prevent collisions by automatically applying the brakes on trains exceeding authorized speeds, about to run a red light, violate a work zone or run through a switch left in the wrong position.
For two decades, the National Transportation Safety Board has had PTC installation at the top of its public-safety objectives. The UTU worked with labor-friendly lawmakers to include a mandate for PTC installation in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, with a 2015 implementation deadline.
However, the Association of American Railroads, which represents the freight railroad industry – and which 30 years ago was an aggressive proponent of an earlier version of PTC, called Advanced Train Control Systems – is lobbying Congress for a multi-year delay in widespread PTC installation, while offering other options for safety improvements instead of PTC.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington says lawmakers supporting the lengthy delay – including House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and House Rail Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) – are among the biggest recipients of freight-railroad campaign contributions.
Some commuter railroads and Amtrak view matters quite differently – especially Los Angeles Metrolink, where 25 people died and 135 were injured in a 2008 head-on train accident at Chatsworth, Calif., that safety experts say could have been prevented had PTC been in place.
Amtrak (on track it owns), Metrolink, Chicago Metra and Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) — in conjunction with owners of track over which they operate — are among commuter systems striving to have PTC operational as early as 2013. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said BNSF will meet the current 2015 implementation date.
Sadly, according to news reports, 24 other commuter railroads and the American Public Transportation Association place a higher priority on spending for gussied up passenger stations, platforms and even new office buildings for executives, and are supporting the delay in PTC implementation.
Los Angeles Metrolink President John Fenton, who adamantly places safety first, told Congress, “We don’t think there is any time to waste given the unforgiving nature of the environment in which we operate.” In bitter memory of the Chatsworth disaster, Fenton and Metrolink employees wear green wrist bands with the words, “Never Again.”
Metrolink is leading the fight against any delay in widespread PTC implementation, explaining that PTC installation costs would be far lower were PTC architecture and components purchased in greater quantity, which would create vendor competition, introduce standardization and spread overhead costs among all railroads.
“PTC can be the technological edge that helps Metrolink achieve the safest operations possible,” says Fenton. “We believe PTC is perhaps the most important safety innovation in our lifetime.”
UTU National Legislative Director James Stem and Alternate National Legislative Director John Risch have been delivering a single message to Congress: “Implementation of PTC is a small price to pay for saving lives and limbs. We need this modern technology safety overlay to protect passengers, the public and train crews.”
In another sign the economy is improving, Norfolk Southern Railway says it needs to hire more conductors in Pennsylvania.
The company says it plans to hold recruiting sessions Tuesday, March 20, in Harrisburg, Pa., and Thursday, March 22, in the Allentown, Pa., area to seek candidates for train conductor positions.
Those selected will join NS as conductor trainees, who operate switches, couple rail cars, and work on trains in yards or over the road.
NS says it has hired more than 600 people since January and expects to add another 2,000 workers in 2012.
Local treasurers should note that employees will continue to receive the benefit of reduced payroll taxes and access to extended unemployment benefits under legislation signed by President Barack Obama on Feb. 22.
That law, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, maintains a reduction in the social security payroll tax on employees, and the corresponding tier I payroll tax rate on railroad employees, of two percentage points.
It also provides that out-of-work members can obtain extended unemployment benefits through the end of calendar year 2012.
To view the U.S. tax amounts and percentages for 2012, click here.
BOSTON — Have you ever thought it would be nice to hear an employer give credit to the front-line workers who do the heavy lifting?
Well, such long overdue recognition came from Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad (MBCR) General Manager Hugh Kiley Jr. March 1, and he should know it didn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.
In reporting a record on-time performance for Boston’s commuter railroad, whose conductors – the men and women who decide when the wheels turn and when they don’t — are represented by the UTU, Kiley said, “Credit must go to the 1,900 men and women who focus every day on the customer experience, as well as the union leadership, which has created a true partnership with management to provide excellent results for customers.”
Indeed. Trains don’t run on time on their own. It is the union-represented men and women on the front lines who ensure the trains run on time – and Kiley said what has long needed to be said by senior management.
Kiley took over as GM of MBCR in October 2010, following some 40 years of achievement with Conrail and Norfolk Southern, and as co-chair of a talented team that designed, in Chicago, a public-private transportation partnership to improve the efficient flow of rail freight and rail passenger trains through that congested region – the $3.2 billion Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE).
Kiley began his railroad career as a brakeman on Penn Central.
As for the record performance, MBCR posted a record 94.7 percent on time percentage in February for its commuter trains – a continuation of a high-level of MBCR service that began in 2011.
In praising MBCR employees and their union leadership, Kiley also cited the hiring of additional train and engine crews and MBCR’s emphasis on training.
MBCR provides service to 40 million commuters annually to and from some 80 cities and towns in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
On behalf of members employed by BNSF, the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) have asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate the railroad’s new medical reporting policy, which the organizations say is discriminatory and violates federal law by requiring workers to provide highly personal medical information.
Sadly, there is a part of “no” that railroads just can’t understand. So, once again, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has hit a railroad in the wallet for violating an employee’s rights as protected under the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970, which was supplemented by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
Job briefings can prevent serious injuries and fatalities, says the Federal Railroad Administration in a switching fatalities and severe injury update. The FRA cites 23 fatalities that have occurred as a result of what it terms “inadequate job briefings.”
Positive train control (PTC) is modern technology to reduce train accidents, save lives and limbs, improve on-time performance and produce revenue-enhancing business benefits for railroads.
In another sign the economy is improving, Norfolk Southern Railway says it needs to hire more conductors in Pennsylvania.