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As most railroaders can attest, there are times that procedures and operating rules set by the FRA or imposed by carriers can be difficult to understand. The language may seem vague, and the ballast-level application often is left up to interpretation, which leads to ambiguity and confusion.

Other rules and procedures are crystal clear, but the ballast-level application depends on an individual’s level of training and professionalism.

With conductor certification, this responsibility has been highlighted and enhanced, and retaining certification can depend on proper ballast-level application of operating rules.

This brings us to the proper application of one of the most important and consistent rules throughout the nation, which was put into place by the FRA to protect life, limb and property during circumstances that require the utmost attention to detail and all crew members’ undivided attention: restricted speed.

The foundation of restricted speed for all rail carriers is found at Code of Federal Regulations, Section 49, Part 236, Subpart G-Definitions § 236.812, dealing with speed restriction. It requires “A speed that will permit stopping within one-half the range of vision, but not exceeding 20 miles per hour.”

Many will read that statement and proceed at the limits of that definition — a speed of 20 miles per hour — completely overlooking the true intent of the regulation.

Restricted speed is not a posted speed that we strive to maintain. It is as crystal-clear a word that can be used in a procedure: Restricted based on circumstance –circumstance that only those in the locomotive cab can truly apply to ensure safe operation.

Is there a train ahead? Broken rail? Faulty signals? The circumstances surrounding the use of restricted speed may vary, but the importance of protecting life, limb and property never changes.

In short, restricted speed is a warning that something in front of you has the ability to get you fired, hurt or killed. 

When restricted speed is required, the warning should bring one out of your seat – make the hair on the back of your neck stand – because that is how dangerous the situation is at that point.

When speed is restricted, every element of your job should have your undivided attention, looking for what lies ahead — moving at a speed that will allow stopping in an instant when the unknown becomes known.

An in-depth job briefing among crew members is a must, and at times should include contacting the dispatcher for as much pertinent information as possible.

When speed is restricted, engineers and conductors must insist that each other drop all other activities, remain vigilant and attentive at the task at hand.

Conductors must be in position to stop the movement immediately should any doubt arise that the train is not under control using the provided emergency brake handle on their side of the locomotive.

With conductor certification, you are now held accountable, and it is only logical that you place the train into emergency 10 times than to gamble with your life once.

In some cases, we struggle to find examples of others’ misfortune to bring to light our urgency to comply with rules and procedures. Unfortunately, during 2011 there were five serious accidents where, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, crewmembers “failed to operate their trains at the required restricted speed.” Two of these accidents resulted in crew fatalities:

* Red Oak, Iowa, April 17, 2011, on BNSF

* Low Moor, Va., May 21, 2011, on CSX

* Mineral Springs, N.C., May 24, 2011, on CSX

* DeWitt, N.Y., July 6, 2011, on CSX

* DeKalb, Ind., Aug. 19, 2011, on Norfolk Southern

Be wise and learn from the mistakes of others who failed to follow rules, procedures and signal systems that were designed over decades to prevent such collisions.

The UTU Safety Task Force urges you to operate at a speed that will allow you to go home to your family in once piece — never allowing others to set your level of personal safety.

Fraternally,

UTU Safety Task Force

Greg Hynes

Steve Evans

Jerry Gibson

To read other Rail Safety Alerts from the UTU Rail Safety Task Force, click on the following link:

https://www.smart-union.org/safety/smart-rail-safety-task-force/

 

WASHINGTON – Federal spending on transportation projects, including aviation, highway, conventional and high-speed passenger rail and transit, would increase by 2 percent under a proposed fiscal year 2013 budget presented Congress Feb. 13 by President Obama.

Transit spending would increase by 105 percent.

The president’s budget request is the first step toward crafting a budget for FY 2013, which begins Oct. 1, but Congress never adopts a president’s budget as presented. The road between the president’s budget request and final congressional passage of a new fiscal year budget is a long and torturous path.

The president proposed the transportation spending increases using funds that will be saved as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down. A core objective of the spending is to put more Americans back to work.

Bloomberg news reports that Republican congressional leaders immediately rejected the president’s budget proposal as being too expensive. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told Bloomberg that the president’s budget is “a collection of rehashes, gimmicks, and tax increases.”
 
Obama countered that his budget request “allows us to invest in the things that will help grow our economy right now. We can’t cut back on those things that are important for us to grow. We can’t just cut our way into growth.”

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the president’s budget “reflects our commitment to investing in an America that is built to last. A strong American economy depends on the roadways, runways, and railways that move people and goods from coast to coast and around the globe.”

Morr

By Bonnie Morr
Vice President, Bus Department

The UTU has gained a new First Transit property in Farmington, N.M., which is now in Local 1687 out of Albuquerque. Contract negotiations have begun.

We also are in the initial stages of organizing some 200 workers on a transit property and a light rail property in Southern California.

I am currently assisting Local 1741, whose members are employed by First Student in San Francisco as they prepare for two arbitrations, including a discipline issue and a workers’ compensation issue. In both cases we are seeking reinstatement of the members.

With assistance from the International Law Department, we recently completed a trial at the National Labor Relations Board over an unfair labor practice at a UTU property in Riverside, Calif., which had been closed without holding negotiations.

We are seeking from the NLRB a severance package for the 135 members who lost their jobs. Final briefs are due in mid-February.

Alternate Vice President Calvin Studivant has been working with Waverly Harris, general chairperson at Local 1574 (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) on numerous grievances where they have settled seven of 10 without having to go to arbitration.

At Local 1715, which represents drivers employed by Charlotte Area Transit System, a driver was reinstated with full back pay after Calvin Studivant defended the driver in arbitration.

In Washington, we are facing a battle with legislation introduced by the House Republican majority attacking transit operating assistance and pushing for privatization that would permit foreign-based operators to enter the U.S. market and access federal transit aid.

This legislation also attacks 13(C) protections of the Federal Transit Act that we worked so hard to protect. They require continuation of collective bargaining rights, and protection of transit employees’ wages, working conditions, pension benefits, seniority, vacation, sick and personal leave, and other conditions of employment, as well as paid training or retraining, when federal funds are used to take over a transit operation.

The UTU National Legislative Office and other transit unions are working to halt this attack, and donations to the UTU PAC will provide additional assistance in this election year.

By RICK JOHNSON
Colorado State Legislative Director

Safety is job number one for UTU-represented pilots employed by Great Lakes Airlines.

Yet their current contract with the carrier is substandard in terms of working conditions and wages that daily puts pressure on their ability to fly passengers safely.

The image of airline pilots earning high wages and access to company-paid top-flight hotel rooms does not apply to our Great Lakes brothers and sisters.

Under the current contract with Great Lakes Airlines, pilots are the lowest paid of any scheduled passenger airline in the United States.

On Great Lakes Airlines, a first officer can expect to make less than $15,000 in the first year. These pilots are professionals with extensive training and expertise, and some of them are paid less than entry-level retail and food service jobs.

Imagine a pilot on food stamps, or having to sleep in passenger lounges in airports. Don’t imagine. Just ask a Great Lakes pilot.

Their UTU Local 40 has been in negotiations with Great Lakes management for more than two years, with negotiations locked-down in difficult mediation under provisions of the Railway Labor Act, which also applies to airline workers.

Local 40 flight attendants, also represented by the UTU, recently ratified a new agreement, but negotiations dragged for – yes – 10 years! The pilots are hoping to reach an equitable settlement with Great Lakes Airlines more quickly.

In a recent poll of pilots, 97 percent supported a job action, but that is not possible until the National Mediation Board releases the parties from mediation.

Based in Cheyenne, Wyo., and with hubs in Albuquerque, N.M.; Denver; Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Phoenix, Great Lakes Airlines serves 48 of its destinations through federal subsidies provided by the congressionally created Essential Air Service program. The airline is the nation’s largest provider of Essential Air Service.

The pilots fly 30-passenger Embraer and 19-passenger Beechcraft aircraft.

UTU members can help their brothers and sisters at Great Lakes Airlines by contacting city council members in the cities Great Lakes serves, and by contacting members of Congress.

The message is straight forward: For the safety of the flying public, pilots on Great Lakes Airlines deserve a contract that provides for a livable wage and appropriate accommodations at layover points to ensure they receive undisturbed rest.

To contact your congressional lawmaker on behalf of our brothers and sisters at Great Lakes Airlines, click on the following link:

www.contactingthecongress.org/

Then select your state, click on the names of your senators and representative, and you have the information needed to send an email or fax, or make a phone call.

WASHINGTON – Responding to petitions for reconsideration to its Nov. 9, 2011, final rule on conductor certification, the FRA has delayed for six months the testing implementation dates and clarified other mandates affecting territorial qualifications and the definition of hostlers.

The FRA, in a Feb. 8 Federal Register notice, said that because its final rule was published Nov. 9, 2011, six months later than contemplated, carriers were not permitted sufficient time to formulate training programs and have them approved by the FRA in time for testing to begin March 1, 2012.

Therefore:

* By Sept. 1, 2012 (rather than March 1, 2012), each railroad (other than Class III) shall designate as “certified conductors” all persons authorized by the railroad to perform the duties of a conductor as of Jan. 1, 2012; and issue them certificates of certification.

* Class I and Class II (regional) railroads, Amtrak and railroads providing commuter services, will have until Sept. 30, 2012, to submit to the FRA for approval their programs for training, testing and evaluation. Class III (shortlines, switching and terminal) railroads will have until Jan. 31, 2013 to do so. The programs submitted by railroads will require collaboration with UTU general chairpersons.

* After Sept. 1, 2012, each railroad (other than Class III) shall designate as a “certified conductor” those authorized by the railroad to perform the duties of a conductor subsequent to Jan. 1, 2012, upon successful completion of testing, training and evaluation.

* After Dec. 1, no Class I or Class II railroad, Amtrak or railroad providing commuter service shall initially certify or recertify a conductor unless that conductor has been tested and evaluated. For Class III railroads, that date is April 1, 2013.

* No later than March 31 of each year (beginning in calendar year 2014), all railroads other than Class III railroads, shall conduct a formal annual review and analysis concerning the administration of its program for responding to detected instances of poor safety conduct by “certified conductors” during the prior calendar year.

* If a conductor lacks territorial qualifications on main track physical characteristics, that conductor shall be assisted by a person who meets the territorial qualification requirements.

* For a conductor who has never been qualified on main track physical characteristics of the territory over which the conductor is to serve, the assistant shall be a “certified conductor” who is not an assigned crew member.

* For a conductor who was previously qualified on main line physical characteristics of the territory over which the conductor is to serve, but whose qualification has expired for one year or less. and who regularly traversed the territory prior to the expiration of the qualification, the assistant may be any person, including an assigned crew member, who meets the territorial qualification requirements for main track physical characteristics.

* For a conductor who previously qualified on main track physical characteristics of the territory over which the conductor is to serve, and whose qualification has been expired for one year or less, but who has not regularly traversed the territory prior to the expiration of the qualification, or a conductor whose territorial qualification on main track has been expired for more than a year, the assistant may be any person, including the assigned crewmember other than the locomotive engineer, so long as the serving assistant would not conflict with that crewmember’s other safety sensitive duties and who meets the territorial qualification requirements for main track physical characteristics.

* As for qualification, and since territories differ in their complexity, railroads will be given discretion to determine how many times a conductor must pass over a territory to be considered to have regularly traversed a territory.

* Each of these territorial qualification issues will be included in each railroad’s plan filed with the FRA and will contain the input from general chairpersons.

Hostler Type Assignments Not Covered

* A person who moves a locomotive or a group of locomotives within the confines of a locomotive repair or servicing area — or moves a locomotive or group of locomotives for distances of less than 100 feet, and this incidental movement of a locomotive or locomotives is for inspection or maintenance purposes — is not subject to conductor certification requirements.

Theproposed new minimum training standards for those in in safety sensitive positions, announced by the FRA in aFeb. 7 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (see link, below), will also apply to conductor certification training programs. “With many thousands of new employee coming on board in the near future, the new training standards will help provide adequate training,” said UTU National Legislative Director James Stem.

Click here to read the changes to conductor certification as published Feb. 8 in the Federal Register.

Click on the following link to read the proposed new minimum training standards for those in safety sensitive positions (that will also apply to conductor certification training):

https://www.smart-union.org/news/fra-proposes-new-minimum-training-standards/

Click on the following link to read about the Nov. 9, 2011, final rule on conductor certification:

https://www.smart-union.org/news/conductor-certification-clear-track-for-jan-1/

For transportation workers, our eyes are among the most important tools of our trade. Lose your eyesight and you lose your livelihood.

That’s why every transportation worker should be aware that an eye disease called glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness, affecting more than three million Americans.

Glaucoma often is called a “sneak thief”, because it has no apparent symptoms. Undiagnosed glaucoma, which attacks the optic nerve, can rob us of 40 percent of our eyesight slowly, but progressively — and before we fully realize the problem. Once glaucoma robs us of our vision, there is no cure.

However, medication and/or surgery can slow down or prevent loss of vision.

While glaucoma has no symptoms, there are events you should be aware of – events that should send you immediately to an eye doctor:

* Any loss of vision

* Unexplained eye pain

* Unusual or unexpected eye redness

* Haloes

* Blurred vision

Those with a family history of glaucoma, those with diabetes, those with high blood pressure and those severely nearsighted or farsighted are most at risk of developing glaucoma.

Annual eye examinations can detect glaucoma and provide a treatment to slow or prevent it from robbing you of your eyesight.

 

FRA logoWASHINGTON – New minimum training and qualification standards are being proposed by the Federal Railroad Administration for rail workers in safety sensitive positions.

In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published Feb. 7 in the Federal Register, the FRA said affected employees would have to be trained and qualified in federal rail safety laws, regulations and orders. Those affected include train and engine workers, maintenance-of-way employees, and workers who inspect and repair freight and passenger cars and locomotives.

The FRA proposes that each railroad or contractor develop a training program designating the qualifications of each employee and them submit that program for agency approval. The training would consist of proficiency-based, incremental training modules, with workers required to demonstrate proficiency in one area before being permitted to accept additional instruction.

Employers would then be required to conduct periodic oversight of their own employees to determine compliance, and conduct annual written reviews of their training programs to close performance gaps.

The proposed rule is a requirement of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

“Well-designed training programs have the potential to further reduce risk in the railroad environment,” said FRA Administrator Joe Szabo. “Better training can reduce the number of accidents, particularly those caused by human factors, which account for the vast majority of reportable accidents each year.”

The proposed new rule was developed with the input from officials in numerous federal and state government agencies, industry and labor.

UTU National Legislative Director James Stem said, “We need to start at the end of the pipeline. When you have a student, a new employee or an existing employee who is being trained on new equipment or new operating practices, what skills do we expect that employee to possess at the end of the training process? And then we’ll work back from that.”

Stem said many railroads, seeking to reduce training costs, have delivered self-directed, computer-based training, “leaving workers unprepared for the hazards of the job. Where there’s no instructor in the room, and all of the available information for the student is on the screen, if the student doesn’t understand the question, he or she has no one to ask. That student is then sent to the field.”

Stem said the proposed rule would create nationwide uniformity in training.

To read the FRA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, click on the following link:

www.fra.dot.gov/rcc/pages/fp_321.shtml and then click on “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking”.

NMB logo; National Mediation BoardWASHINGTON – The House and Senate agreed Feb. 6 on legislation authorizing increased future funding for new air traffic control technology and the Essential Air Service subsidy program to rural airports as part of a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Lawmakers voted to scrap an attempt by House Republicans to overturn a 2011 National Mediation Board (NMB) ruling making organizing under the Railway Labor Act comport with rules of all other elections in the U.S. 

President Obama says he will sign the bill into law.

The NMB last year revised its rule on representation elections, providing that in all representation elections under the Railway Labor Act (which also covers airline employees), only ballots from those actually voting would be counted. Previously, those not voting were considered to have voted “no” for representation. In changing its outdated 75-year-old representation election rule, the NMB said no other elections in the United States count those not voting as having voted ‘no.’

The legislation does change NMB representation rules by requiring 50 percent of eligible employees sign an authorization card (rather than 35 percent) before a representation election may be held. The UTU has long required more than 50 percent before seeking a representation election on railroad and airline properties it seeks to organize.

The legislation also requires public hearings for future NMB rulemakings, and requires Government Accountability Office audits of the NMB every two years.

While continuing the Essential Air Service subsidy program for rural airports, the legislation does cut service to some rural airports, but not those served by Great Lakes Airlines, whose crews are represented by the UTU.

The legislation provides some $13 billion for airport improvements and $38 billion for Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control operations.

WASHINGTON – More than $826 million will become available to transit systems in the U.S. this year for modernizing and repairing vehicles, the Department of Transportation announced Feb. 6.

“An American economy that’s built to last must be built on a solid foundation, and when we have buses, transit facilities, and other equipment that’s in disrepair, we simply cannot afford to ignore them,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. 

The recipients of these funds will be announced in July, LaHood said.

The following is a joint letter from UTU International President Mike Futhey and Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association General President Joe Nigro on the merger of the two organizations to become the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation Workers (SMART).

Brothers and sisters:

Futhey

The merger of the United Transportation Union (UTU) and the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (SMWIA) into the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) became effective Nov. 30, 2011.

The two of us firmly believe that the time for conflict between our two great unions is over. It is time to heal our wounds and embark jointly on a productive and successful future.

Central UTU issues of craft and general committee autonomy are intact and not an issue. It is time to build a bigger, stronger and more effective organization in order to meet the many challenges facing you, our memberships.

We begin now to implement the provisions of the merger agreement that recognizes the need for an orderly transition of our respective organizations.

Nigro

Change, at times, may be difficult, but both of us are committed to bringing our unions together in SMART by building on our strengths.

The UTU brings to SMART proven accomplishments before the National Mediation Board and in dealing with the Railway Labor Act, rail safety and state legislative issues. The SMWIA brings to SMART expert knowledge related to organizing and extensive training resources and facilities nationwide.

Combined as SMART, we create a large and powerful voice within the AFL-CIO and in advancing legislative objectives in Congress and state legislatures.

In the months ahead, we ask you to work with us collaboratively, creatively and with open minds to preserve the best practices of the UTU and SMWIA, and to become more efficient and cost-effective in conducting union business.

As we write this, committees are forming to work out the myriad details necessary to accomplish the merger.

We intend the implementation process to be transparent and welcome your involvement in building SMART into the best possible union for the sake of all our members. Both of us pledge our loyalty to the mission we now undertake.

—

The Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (SMWIA), a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian Labour Congress, is 150,000 members strong, with 2,027 working in the railroad industry.

SMWIA members also work in construction, manufacturing, service and shipyard industries, primarily in HVAC systems as well as architectural and specialized metal fabrication.

The SMWIA’s earliest predecessor — the Tin, Sheet Iron and Cornice Workers’ International Association — was formed in January 1888. In 1924, the SMWIA name was adopted. Railroad shop workers have always been an integral part of the union.