Author: paul

Home>Articles by: paul
Risch

WASHINGTON — New jobs building and operating high-speed rail “are American jobs that can’t be shipped overseas and would be a Godsend in this economic downturn,” UTU Alternate National Legislative Director John Risch told a congressionally sponsored forum here Aug. 3.

“Railroad operating jobs are not just good paying jobs; they are great careers,” Risch told his audience, which included a bi-partisan group of lawmakers and their staff interested in advancing high-speed passenger railroading, as well as officials of the American High Speed Rail Alliance.

“Amtrak and its workforce should be the backbone for high-speed rail in America,” Risch said. “Amtrak, by law, is America’s national intercity rail passenger network and the nation’s only provider of high-speed rail with its Acela Express service in the Northeast Corridor.”

Risch told the forum the UTU supports Amtrak’s Next Generation Plan for development of high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor, which would include speeds as fast as 220-mph and significantly reduced travel times.

“Amtrak’s plan would support 44,000 jobs annually over the 25-year construction period and some 120,000 permanent jobs,” Risch said.

“If we were instead to build more highways, we would have to build eight new lanes of Interstate between Washington, D.C., and Boston to accommodate the same number of travelers Amtrak will carry on the Northeast Corridor upon completion of the Next Generation Plan,” Risch said.

“Amtrak,” said Risch, “has extensive experience operating passenger trains in America, has long-standing relationships with the freight railroads and has a proven track-record partnering with state and local governments to provide passenger rail service,” Risch said.

“Most importantly, Amtrak employs the experienced conductors, engineers, on-board service workers, machinists, signalmen, train dispatchers, and others who know how to run a railroad,” Risch said. “These are the best trained passenger-rail workers in the nation, and Amtrak is the best choice to implement any high-speed rail program.”

The Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) reports the following criminal actions involving officers of various locals, divisions and general committees within the BLET, BMWE, BRS and UTU since Jan. 1, 2011:

* On July 13, 2011, in the United States District Court for New Jersey, Jose Rivera, former president/secretary-treasurer of United Transportation Union Local 710, a union representing Coach bus drivers in Orange, Newark, and Elizabeth, N.J., pled guilty to an information to taking unauthorized loans in excess of $2,000, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 503(a) and (c). Rivera’s sentencing is scheduled for October 2011. The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS New York District Office.

* On July 12, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Derrick George, the former secretary-treasurer of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division Sub-Lodge 76 (Leon, W.Va.), was charged in a one-count indictment for embezzling $19,287.42 in union funds. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Pittsburgh District Office and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.

* On July 11, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Brandon S. Borders, former secretary-treasurer of United Transportation Union Local 997 (Camp Hill, Pa.), was indicted on one count of embezzlement of union funds in the amount of $12,551.16, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia District Office.

* On June 15, 2011, in the State of Iowa, Cerro Gordo County District Court, Ken Schmidt, former secretary-treasurer of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 656 (Mason City, Iowa), was charged with theft in the 2nd degree in the amount of $9,467, in violation of Iowa Statutory Code 714.21. The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS St. Louis District Office.

* On June 13, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Amar Ali, former secretary-treasurer of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Sub-Lodge 695 (Baltimore, Md.), was sentenced to two years of probation. Ali was also ordered to pay a $25 special assessment fee and a $500 fine. Ali previously made restitution in the amount of $1,986.29. On Jan. 4, 2011, Ali pled guilty to a one-count information for failure to maintain union records, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(a)(b). The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Philadelphia District Office.

* On May 19, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Tyson Pedigo, former general secretary-treasurer of Railroad Signalmen General Committee 12 (Meridian, Texas), pled guilty to a charge of falsifying union records, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 439(c). The guilty plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.

* On April 15, 2011, in the Western District of Arkansas, an information was filed against Michael Curry, former secretary-treasurer of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Lodge 1127 (Texarkana, Ark.), charging him with knowingly and willfully embezzling funds belonging to Lodge 1127 in the amount of $6,996.55, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). Curry pled guilty to the charge. The charge and plea follow an investigation by the OLMS Dallas District Office.

* On April 12, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, an information was filed against Charles E. McDaniel, former general chairman of the United Transportation Union General Committee of Adjustment 341, charging him with one count of wire fraud for fraudulently obtaining $44,889.62 from UTU and $36,629.29 from BNSF, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 1343. The charge follows an investigation by the St. Louis District Office.

* On April 7, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division, Robert K. Lauermann, former secretary-treasurer of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 682 (Whiting, Ind.), was indicted on one count of embezzlement of union funds over $10,000, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). The charge follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.

* On Feb. 11, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Frank Kmiec, former secretary-treasurer of Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division Local 2857 (Genoa City, Wis.), was sentenced to one year probation with the first six months served in home confinement with electronic monitoring. He was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $25. On Nov. 22, 2010, Kmiec pled guilty to making false entries in the local’s cash record book, check register, and quarterly audit reports thereby misrepresenting the balance of the local’s bank account. In pleading guilty, Kmiec admitted to embezzling approximately $19,461.39 in Local 2857 funds. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.

* On Feb. 4, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Kevin T. Hunt, former secretary-treasurer for United Transportation Union Local 198 (located in Peoria, Ill.), was sentenced to one year probation. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $500 and a $25 special assessment. On Oct. 26, 2010, Hunt pled guilty to a one-count information for filing a false LM report. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office.

Definitions:

An indictment is a formal accusation or charge based on a finding by a grand jury that it is likely that the person charged committed the criminal offense described in the indictment and is the means by which an accused person (defendant) is brought to trial. An indictment raises no inference of guilt. As in all criminal cases, each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

An information is a formal accusation of a crime by a government attorney rather than a grand jury. An information raises no inference of guilt. As in all criminal cases, each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A charge is an accusation of criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. As in all criminal cases, each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A guilty plea is a defendant’s admission to the court that he or she committed the offense charged and an agreement to waive the right to a trial.

A conviction is a judgment based on a jury’s verdict, judge’s finding, or the defendant’s admission that the defendant is guilty of the crime charged.

A sentence is a judicial determination of the punishment to be imposed on an individual who has plead guilty or has been convicted by a jury or judge of a criminal offense.

 

 

WASHINGTON – A former official with three bus operators employing UTU members has been elected president and CEO of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), which represents bus and transit operators before Congress and regulatory agencies. The appointment is effective Nov. 1.

Michael P. Melaniphy most recently was vice president of bus manufacturer Motor Coach Industries in Schaumburg, Ill.

From 1989 to 1990, Melaniphy was an executive with First Group, whose subsidiaries include First Student, a school-bus operator employing UTU members at numerous locations. From 1990 to 1991, he was assistant general manager of El Metro in Laredo, Texas (a former UTU property), and from 1998 to 2001, he was general manager of UTU-represented Transit Management in Charlotte, N.C.

While in college at Indiana University, Melaniphy drove for the campus bus system and was team driver for the Bobby Knight-coached basketball team.

Melaniphy, who has been a member of the APTA board of directors, succeeds William Millar, who is retiring following 15 years as APTA president.

The August sun can be dangerous, and protecting your skin should be a high priority.
Although this is a year-round issue, overexposure to sun and its dangers occurs most during the summer. When skin is exposed to ultra-violet (UV) rays, it responds by producing melanin, a pigment that helps protect your skin to prevent further sun damage resulting in a “tan.”
The problem, however, is that the skin cannot produce the amount of melanin needed fast enough to protect most skin types from overexposure to UV rays.
Individuals with fair skin, red hair, and naturally blond hair or light-colored eyes, produce very little melanin when exposed to UV rays, which means their skin will likely skip the tanning stage and go straight to sunburn.
Even those with darker skin should take precautions, as anyone can be at risk to overexposure of UV rays.
UV light is responsible for the wrinkling and/or leathering of the skin and for causing sunburns – and can cause skin cancer, damage to the eyes and damage to the immune system.
To protect your skin from UV damage:
* Use a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 or higher.
* Look for one that states it provides “broad spectrum” protection, which means it  provides protection from all forms of UV rays.
* Choose a water-resistant sunscreen to better protect your skin while wet.
* Reapply sunscreen often since none offer all-day protection.
* Avoid or limit sun exposure between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., as these are the hours where the sun is at its peak and you are most at risk for sun damage.
* Cover your skin as much as possible if you will be in it for long periods of time. Wear long sleeves and/or sun-protective clothing, wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses.

Morr

By BONNIE MORR
Alternate Vice President, Bus Department

Bus Department workshops at the San Antonio and New York regional meetings were among the most informative in many years, and reflect the promise of President Futhey to beef-up and place greater emphasis on those workshops.

The workshop on solidarity and uniting of our membership focused on how labor, beginning at the local level, can make a difference at the bargaining table and in state and congressional legislative chambers.

Local and general committee officers found significant benefit in a technical workshop on how to write more effectively in grievance proceedings.

The new cell phone ban and other safety issues was timely and punctuated with videos of actual accidents, allowing discussion of causes and accident avoidance.

Officials from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) presented essential information on labor law affecting collective bargaining and grievance handling under the National Labor Relations Act.

An especially fruitful workshop opened the floor to discussions of issues facing individual locals, allowing a collective sharing of ideas and solutions.

Bus Department members also benefited from several workshops dealing with transportation issues and labor challenges that affecting all crafts and organized labor in general.

Legislative breakout sessions provided information state-specific legislation affecting Bus Department members and working families. The role of the UTU Collective Bargaining Fund and UTU PAC in turning back anti-labor efforts by political extremists and electing labor-friendly candidates was most informative.

The Bus Department intends to build on the success of these workshops at our 2012 regional meetings in Portland, Ore. (June 18-20), and Memphis, Tenn. (July 23-25), and we encourage that you begin making plans to attend one of those meetings to improve your skills as effective leaders and trade unionists.

Voting packages for the tentative national rail contract were mailed Friday, Aug. 12, to UTU members eligible to vote.

The balloting period will extend for 21 days to 4 p.m., Eastern time, Friday, Sept. 2.

Voting will be by craft under the craft-autonomy provisions of the UTU Constitution. Crafts voting will be brakeman, conductor, engineer, fireman, yardman and yardmaster.

Members will vote based on the craft in which they worked on the day previous to ballots being mailed.

Voting packages provide instructions on how to cast ballots by telephone.

Votes will be tabulated by BallotPoint, which will report the results to the International. Results will be posted at smart-union.org/td/ when received by BallotPoint, which is expected the day voting is closed.

Results will be based on valid ballots cast. 

To stay current on news relating to the tentative national rail contract, visit smart-union.org/td/ and click on the “National Rail Contract” link at the bottom right corner of the home page.

Dog; Railway Stamp; Dog on Railway Stamp; Stamp
WASHINGTON — The Railway Mail Service is no more, but the pooch who, more than a century ago, served as a mascot and protector to those who sorted the mail aboard Railway Post Office (RPO) cars has gained new life in a special issue stamp of the U.S. Postal Service.

Owney is the dog’s name and his story is legend. And if the tail (whoops, “tale”) we are about to relate is a bit much to chase, recall the line from the movie, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

This we shall do.

Return with us now to the 1880s and Albany, N.Y., where postal clerks offered fare and lodging to a scruffy mutt – a mixed terrier in a more polite term — they named “Owney.” The pooch soon began following mail bags onto Railway Post Office (RPO) cars where he rode, slept and ate for 17 years while providing some degree of entertainment, and and a high degree safety, to postal clerks sorting the mail on the rails.

As we know, danger rode the rails in those days, and RPO employees were as likely to be killed in train wrecks as train and engine workers. Between 1890 and 1900, 80 mail clerks were killed and more than 2,000 injured in rail accidents, according to the National Postal Museum. But not a single RPO car on which Owney rode – and he is said to have ridden more than 140,000 miles on RPO cars throughout the nation — was involved in an accident.

RPO workers, aware of the dangers of the job and increasingly looking to Owney as a good-luck pooch, began festooning his collar with medals and other tags of endearment. When the postmaster general learned of the practice, he authorized a custom-made harness better able to accommodate the labels of endearment. It was said that when Owney moved about, his tributes jingled “like the bells on a junk wagon.”

Alas, Owney was a bit contrary and given to ill-temper when separated from RPO cars and the mail. As the story is told, when Owney encountered a newspaper reporter in Toledo, Ohio, in June 1897, things got a tad out of hand. While the circumstances have been blurred by time, Owney apparently “went postal” on the newsman and wound up dead of a bullet wound. Grief stricken mail clerks raised funds to have Owney’s remains preserved – and they remain on display today in the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.  (And you thought a stuffed Trigger — Roy Rogers’ horse — was unique.) 

Indeed, a number of children’s books have been written about Owney. And the Owney stamp, issued by the Postal Service July 27, isn’t the end of fame for Owney — surely not in this age of technology.

The Postal Service says it intends to launch an Owney iPhone app as well as an Owney iPad interacative e-book. It is unlikely, however, that Owney’s fame might ever eclipse that of Winnie the Poo; then, again, who are we to quibble with legends?

As for the Railway Mail Service and RPO cars, when Amtrak took over railroad passenger service in 1971, only eight RPO routes remained. The last RPO car as taken out of service in 1977; and in 2004, Amtrak ceased hauling all U.S. mail.

The likelihood of 300-mph magnetic levitation trains operating in the United States anytime soon took another body blow in July when a private-sector firm planning a maglev route in Pennsylvania filed for bankruptcy.

Maglev uses powerful electro-magnets to levitate, propel, guide and stop the trains. They are not wheeled trains and require a separate right-of-way.

Maglev trains are under development in Japan and China. The Japan maglev project remains in a test and demonstration phase; while in China, a maglev train is in operation between Shanghai and its airport, moving passengers 19 miles in just over seven minutes at 268 mph. 

In the United States, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century directed the Federal Railroad Administration to initiate a competition to plan and build a maglev project. Congress appropriated $55 million for preconstruction planning, and up to $950 million for final engineering and construction of the project, but required up to two-thirds matching funds from state, local and private contributions.

The legislative kicker was that to be eligible for funding, the project must demonstrate that it would turn a profit.

Two routes were deemed viable by the FRA – one extending 39 miles between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.; the other a 54-mile line linking Pittsburgh International Airport in Pennsylvania with the nearby cities of Monroeville and Greensburg to the east.

The capital cost of the Baltimore-Washington project was estimated by the FRA at $5.1 billion (2007 dollars); and the capital cost of the Pittsburgh project at $5.25 billion (2010 dollars).
 
In 2008, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Safety Act: A Legacy for Users authorized another $90 million for maglev project development, with 50 percent earmarked for a maglev project linking Las Vegas and Primm, Nev.; and the other 50 percent for the Pittsburgh and Baltimore-Washington projects, and an additional project linking Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tenn.  A 20 percent non-federal match was required for this latest authorization.

The U.S. General Accounting Office, in 1993, estimated the cost of maglev at some $60 million per mile, versus a cost of between $3 million and $13 million per mile for more conventional high-speed trains. The 1993 $60 million per-mile figure would be $91 million per-mile in 2010 dollars.

The Baltimore-Maryland, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas maglev trains are merely in the planning stage, with environmental impact studies underway. There has been little optimism that sufficient funds could be found in the near term to advance these projects much further.

This was emphasized with the bankruptcy of the firm planning the Pittsburgh maglev route. The company said its bankruptcy filing was an effort to reorganize – that it is still awaiting some $28 million in federal grants that were not provided as the required non-federal matching funds had not been obtained, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
 
In May 2010, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood rode the Japanese maglev test train at a top speed of 312 mph as part of an Obama administration promotion for high-speed trains in the United States. Central Japan Railway Co. expressed an interest in participating in the construction of the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., maglev train.

Subsequently, the FRA denied the Baltimore-Washington project any new federal funds, calling it “not ready” for additional funding.

Witnesses say it’s a grey sedan.

A grey four-door sedan — occupied by two men.

A grey four-door sedan occupied by two men that shows up at railroad facilities.

The men claim to work for the Federal Railroad Administration. That say they are there to inspect a bridge, or to observe train and engine crews switching tank cars in a yard.

But when asked for their identification, the two men immediately drive away in their grey sedan.

That’s the story told by a Canadian Pacific railroad bridge tender in Milwaukee, Wis., and 31 hours later by a Union Pacific supervisor 2,100 miles southwest of Milwaukee at a UP yard in Long  Beach, Calif., where tank cars were being switched.

Although the bridge tender notified Canadian Pacific police, and the UP supervisor notified the FRA – both providing a description of the vehicle and the two occupants — neither was able to obtain the vehicle’s license plate number.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is investigating. The FRA said that in neither of the reported incidents were their employees nearby.

For it to be the same vehicle and same pair of men in Milwaukee and Long Beach — 2,100 miles apart — they would have had to travel non-stop at 68 mph for 31 hours.

So, could they be separate sets of federal officers in a similar sedan testing security awareness? If not, then …?

It’s the, “If not, then … ?” that is so properly worrisome in this era of worldwide terror attacks.

The FRA and TSA continue to remind front-line rail employees that they are the critical eyes and ears first able to spot and report potential terrorist activity.

Advises the FRA and TSA:

* Request credentials of any person claiming to be an official government inspector, law-enforcement officer or representative.

* When observing a suspect vehicle, record its description (type, color, make, model, number of doors) and license plate number.

* Stay vigilant for suspicious people, behaviors, activities, and objects at and near rail facilities.

* Report potential security concerns to the railroad’s communications or operations center, following individual railroad procedures for such reporting.

* Review these procedures with other employees and supervisors during awareness briefings.

Following negotiation of the tentative national rail contract, general chairpersons submitted questions about the contract that were relayed by the International to the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), which represents carriers at the bargaining table. The NCCC provided answers to the questions.

To view the questions and answers, click here.