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Canadian National:

Canadian National Railway July 25 reported an 8 percent increase in profit for the second quarter 2011 versus the second quarter 2010, citing a 10 percent increase in intermodal loadings (trailers and containers on flat cars) and a 14 percent increase in intermodal revenue.

CN’s second quarter 2011 operating ratio of 62.3 percent showed little change from the 61.2 percent for the second quarter 2010. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability.

CN is primarily a Canadian railroad. Its U.S. holdings include what were formerly Detroit, Toledo & Ironton; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; Grand Trunk Western; Illinois Central; and Wisconsin Central.

Canadian Pacific:

Canadian Pacific Railway’s second quarter 2011 profit fell by 23 percent versus second quarter 2010, owing to widespread and prolonged flood disruptions, said the carrier.

CP’s second quarter 2011 operating ratio of 88.8 was four percentage points higher than the operating ratio for the second quarter 2010. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability.

Canadian Pacific is primarily a Canadian railroad. Its U.S. holdings include Class I Soo Line and regional railroad Delaware & Hudson.

CSX:

CSX July 19 reported a 22 percent increase in profit for the second quarter 2011 versus the second quarter 2010, much of it the result of higher freight rates as traffic volume slowed.

CSX said the improved profits will allow $2.2 billion in spending to make improvements to its tracks, yards and signals, and purchase additional locomotives and freight cars. The railroad also said it will increase employment by 4 percent in 2011, double its proposed headcount increase announced earlier in the year.

CSX’s second quarter 2011 operating ratio declined to 69.3, versus 7.2 for the second quarter 2010. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability.

CSX operates some 21,000 route miles in 23 states and the District of Columbia

Kansas City Southern:

Kansas City Southern July 21 reported a 19 percent improvement in profits for the second quarter 2011 versus second quarter 2010, driven by improved auto, intermodal and coal traffic as it established records for the number of carloads handled.

Its operating ratio of 71.7 was almost a full percentage point better than its operating ratio in the second quarter 2010. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability.

KCS operates some 3,500 route miles in 10 states in the Central and South-Central U.S., as well as Kansas City Southern de Mexico, a primary Mexican rail line.

Norfolk Southern:

Norfolk Southern July 26 reported a record second-quarter profit – a 42 percent improvement for second quarter 2011 versus second quarter 2010. The railroad cited increased intermodal traffic (trailers and containers on flat cars) and coal loadings as significant contributors to the improved earnings.

The NS second quarter 2011 operating ratio of 69.5 percent was slightly improved from the 69.9 percent for second quarter 2010. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability.

NS operates some 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Union Pacific:

Union Pacific July 21 reported a 10 percent increase in profits for the second quarter 2011 versus second quarter 2010, citing prices increases and an 11 percent increase in chemicals and agricultural carloads. The railroad said it was the best-ever quarterly earnings.

UP’s operating ratio of 71.3, however, was 1.9 percent higher than second quarter 2010. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability.

UP said it plans to hire some 4,500 new workers by the end of 2011 – 3,000 to replace those retiring and 1,500 to new positions.

Union Pacific operates some 32,000 route miles in 23 states in the western two-thirds of the U.S.

 As BNSF is now privately held, it does not report quarterly earnings.

CHICAGO — A Belt Railway of Chicago switchman and UTU member with three years’ service was crushed to death between two rail cars in a hump yard here just after midnight July 25.
Andres Tapia, 34, a member of UTU Local 1597 (Chicago), and working a two-person remote control assignment, reportedly was found between the two cars by fellow workers after his remote control device broadcast an automatic “man down” alert. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to media reports.
Tapia is the fourth UTU member killed in an on-duty rail accident in 2011.
The accident is being investigated by the Federal Railroad Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
In April, UTU Local 199 (Creston, Iowa) Vice Local Chairperson and conductor Patricia Hyatt, 48, was killed near McPherson, Iowa, when her eastbound freight train pulling 130 loaded coal hoppers collided with the rear of a second BNSF train. The engineer of the train on which Hyatt was working also was killed.
In May, UTU Local 970 (Abbeville, S.C.) member and conductor Phillip E. Crawford Jr., 33, was killed in a rear-end collision involving two CSX freight trains in Mineral Springs, N.C.
In June, UTU Local 1732 (San Jose, Calif.) member and conductor Laurette Lee, 68, was killed when her Amtrak train, the California Zephyr, was hit broadside by a tractor-trailer combination at a highway-rail grade crossing near Reno, Nev.
In 2010, eight UTU members were killed in on-duty rail accidents; the same number as 2009.
For more information on rail safety, click on the following link:
https://www.smart-union.org/safety/

As the UTU continues to lobby safety regulators and Congress on the need for bus-operator fatigue abatement, improved driver training and tougher bus-safety inspections, tragic events are placing even more emphasis on this topic.

Since January, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, 32 have been killed in 17 separate bus accidents, and 323 injured. The death and injury toll already has eclipsed the 30 killed and 272 injured during all of 2010.

As the UTU Bus Department and National Legislative Office have informed safety regulators and Congress, many low-fare tour bus companies that are non-union force their drivers to work under horrendous conditions at low pay — and often with little sleep.

It is common for non-union drivers employed by low-fare tour-bus firms to sleep in their coaches between driving assignments. Many of these bus companies have been cited for safety violations, yet they continue to operate.

The New York Times has reported that low-fare tour buses transport millions of passengers annually and regulators rely on handwritten logbooks to determine if drivers are working with insufficient rest. An official of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety called the logs “comic books” and alleged they are often falsified or not filled in at all.

The UTU continues to reach out to unorganized bus operators, informing them that under UTU contracts, our members cannot be forced to violate federal hours-of-service regulations, and can refuse to operate unsafe buses without fear of losing their jobs.
 
Some states have stepped up safety enforcement. In New York, the state’s transportation commissioner told the Associated Press that since March, more than 3,000 surprise bus inspections were made, resulting in 304 drivers and 238 buses taken out of service.

AFL founder Samuel Gompers said the objective of labor is, “more, now.”

Our national rail agreement fulfills that objective.

In an economic environment that has our brothers and sisters in other industries in a vice grip of difficult times, our agreement delivers more than just a 17 percent wage increase, a 6½-year cap on health care insurance premiums, certification pay, a faster process for new hires to reach full-pay rates and no work-rules give-backs.

The 17 percent wage increase is significantly higher than the rate of price inflation – giving you a greater boost in purchasing power than any other national contract in the past 40 years.

By contrast, President Obama imposed a two-year wage freeze on federal employees, and not a day passes without news of wage and health care givebacks in other industries.

Our $200 monthly cap on health care insurance contributions is less than half what federal workers currently are paying; and is more than $140 less than the average currently paid by private-sector workers.

Health care plan design changes deliver expanded and improved health care benefits, such as personalized medicine and access to centers of excellence – benefits we never before had. Personalized medicine assure you access to the most up-to-date health care products available; and centers of excellence means that if you or a family member suffers a serious illness, you gain access to the most advanced treatment center for that illness in America.

Sadly, other organizations – unable on their own to reach a national agreement — have attacked ours.

These other organizations ignore that neutral arbitrators have previously ruled that carrier profitability is not a valid reason for increasing wages. Moreover, the Surface Transportation Board has concluded that while rail profits are up sharply, the carriers remain revenue inadequate. Captive shippers, citing higher rail profits, have lost every argument before Congress to impose caps on freight rates.

These other organizations also ignore that presidential emergency boards merely make recommendations under the Railway Labor Act. Those recommendations are subject to amendment by Congress, and if we turn our fate over to Congress, it is the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee that will be the committee of jurisdiction. The chairman of that committee is Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.).

In recent weeks, Chairman Mica has voiced opposition to union representation for Transportation Security Administration workers, advanced legislative language to privatize Amtrak and slash transit funding, and to overturn a National Mediation Board ruling assuring that a majority of those voting determine the outcome of airline and railroad representation elections. Rep. Mica wants the NMB to count as “no” votes anyone who does not cast a ballot.

In fact, if this agreement is rejected, and third parties determine our fate, the carriers will cite federal worker benchmarks – the wage freeze and far higher health care insurance premiums — to Congress. Everything we won in this agreement is off the table if we go to a presidential emergency board, with the carriers able to resort to their original Section 6 notice.

Brothers and sisters, this agreement deserves to be ratified on its merits. It delivers “more, now.” 

A Wisconsin Central conductor has won a whistle-blower complaint against the carrier – collecting more than $125,000 in compensatory and punitive damages – for unlawful harassment and intimidation as the result of reporting an injury.

This was the third successful whistle-blower complaint filed against a railroad in recent months for violation of a worker’s rights under the Federal Rail Safety Act of 2007.

In the most recent case, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered Wisconsin Central to cease and desist in its practice of automatically issuing notices of investigation for employees who report work injuries.

OSHA also ordered the carrier to pay the conductor lost wages, plus interest; $100,000 in punitive damages for its reckless disregard for the law; and $25,000 in compensatory damages for mental pain and emotional distress due to the humiliation and loss of income from the wrongful suspension. OSHA also ordered Wisconsin Central to provide all employees with a fact sheet advising them of their rights for reporting work-related injuries and illnesses.

According to the conductor’s attorney, the conductor reported an on-the-job injury, as required by railroad rules. The railroad subsequently issued a notice ordering the conductor to attend a formal investigation to ascertain his responsibility for sustaining a personal injury and to determine if the conductor violated any railroad rules.

Although it was determined that the railroad had abandoned previous efforts to treat an ice covered service road that the conductor was required to use in the performance of duties – resulting in the injury – Wisconsin Central found the conductor guilty of violating several rules and issued a 10-day suspension. The railroad alleged that by sustaining an injury, the conductor had violated the railroad’s rules.

Earlier this year, OSHA required Union Pacific to rehire a machinist it had fired following the reporting of a work-related injury, finding UP had improperly retaliated against him.

And in December 2010, OSHA ordered a conductor employed by BNSF to be reinstated after finding BNSF guilty of improper retaliation after the conductor filed an injury report.

The Federal Rail Safety Act of 2007 protects rail workers from retaliation and threats of retaliation when they report injuries, 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 any safety related equipment.

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.

An employer also is 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.

This protection is known as “whistle-blower protection,” and the federal law is enforced by OSHA, as it was against Wisconsin Central, UP and BNSF.

Relief may include reinstatement with the same seniority and benefits, back pay with interest, compensatory damages (including witness and legal fees), and punitive damages as high as $250,000.

A rail employee may file the 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 http://www.utu.org/, 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:

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

 

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Public Belt Railway’s former general manager, Jim Bridger, reportedly is charged by the state with 18 felony counts of theft from the 15-mile city-owned railroad as well as malfeasance while on the job.

The UTU represents many of the railroads’ workers.

Bridger entered a “not guilty” plea and was released on $180,000 bond to await trial, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper.

Details of the charges were not released, but prosecutors told the newspaper each of the theft charges “involved thousands of dollars.”

The newspaper reported that “at least five of the felony counts appear to relate” to Bridger’s loaning out to friends luxury railcars owned by the railroad. He allegedly spent $3 million in city money to buy and restore antique Pullman cars and purchase luxury SUVs.

The newspaper said federal prosecutors also are investigating Bridger.

Bridger, maintaining his innocence of criminal charges, was quoted by the newspaper as saying, “If I have one regret, it’s that someone didn’t put the bridle on me earlier and say, ‘Hold on, this is not Long Island, this is not Union Pacific.'”

A 130-mile coal railroad, long in the planning stage to stretch from Wyoming into Montana and likely connect with BNSF, is about to be purchased in part by the billionaire whose family controls the candy giant producing M&Ms, Mars bars, Milky Way, Snickers, Skittles, Twix and other confections. 

Forrest E. Mars, Jr., reports the Great Falls Tribune, will purchase from BNSF and Arch Coal one-third of the proposed Tongue River Railroad, which has been mired in legal challenges by environmentalists and ranchers. Mars owns what The New York Times once described as “a sprawling cattle ranch” in Montana.

Mars, who has been funding some of the legal challenges, is said by the newspaper to be buying into the railroad so as to change the route of its construction to the satisfaction of some who oppose it.

The proposed railroad would haul coal north from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin through Montana to electric utilities in the Midwest.

The newspaper reports that the deal between Mars, BNSF and Arch Coal will not stop opposition.

In 2008, Mars lost a court challenge to halt exploration and drilling for natural gas on his ranch.

WASHINGTON – The Republican chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Rep. John Mica of Florida, added to his anti-labor reputation July 19 by inserting language in an aviation bill aimed at pressuring Senate Democrats to overturn a National Mediation Board decision allowing more democratic representation elections among airline and rail workers.

Not to be lost here is that were the UTU tentative national rail agreement rejected, and the outcome turned over to third parties, Mica would take the lead in deciding the outcome – and it is likely he would push for a congressionally imposed settlement quite unfavorable to workers.

Mica’s latest assault on labor is in the form of legislative language to halt essential air service subsidies to states of three labor-friendly Senate Democrats — Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.).

Rockefeller told the Associated Press that the Mica action was in retaliation for Senate Democrats refusing to accept an anti-labor provision in a Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill.

Mica, who is pushing to eliminate Amtrak, slash transit funding and prevent Transportation Security Administration workers from joining a union, has been on a tear to overturn an NMB ruling that brings airline and railroad representation elections in tune with all other democratic elections.

The NMB last year ended a 75-year practice that counted those not voting in rep elections as having voted against union representation. Instead, rep elections are now determined by a majority those actually voting.

No other democratic elections count those not voting as having cast negative ballots. The NMB merely brought airline and railroad rep elections under the same rules affecting all other elections in America. Indeed, if congressional elections followed the old NMB procedure, which Mica wishes to restore, many House and Senate lawmakers would not have been elected.

Mica is piqued that the changed NMB rep-election rule could make it easier for unions to organize airline and railroad workers.

Although the Republican controlled House voted to overturn the new NMB rep-election rule as part of a reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Senate has refused to go along.

The result has been a stalemate and a series of extensions to keep the FAA operating. In the latest extension effort, Mica inserted language eliminating essential air service to the states of the Reid, Rockefeller and Baucus, who are among the most staunch opponents of overturning the NMB ruling through legislation.

It is a game of chicken, because if the latest extension is not passed, thousands of FAA employees would be furloughed, although the nation’s air traffic control system would continue operating. The Senate has showed no sign of capitulating to Mica. 

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Two unidentified BNSF crewmembers – a conductor and engineer — were injured near here July 19 when their 110-car train, with three locomotives, ran into the rear of a stationary and unoccupied maintenance train, reports the Associated Press.

The injuries were said not to be life-threatening. The freight train was enroute from Laurel to Shelby, and 13 of the maintenance-train cars derailed.

WASHINGTON – The UTU has won a victory on behalf of 12 train and engine employees represented by the UTU and employed by Manufacturers Railway, a 124-year-old subsidiary of brewer Anheuser-Busch for which Manufacturers performs switching services in St. Louis.

In March, the carrier sought permission from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) to discontinue operations, and asked the agency not to impose so-called labor protection (actually income protection) for workers who would be put in unemployment lines as a result of the discontinuance.

The railroad’s case rested on a long-standing policy of the board and its predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission, not to impose labor protection when an entire system is abandoned.

The UTU Law Department intervened, telling the STB that Manufacturers had provided the agency with “misleading information” with regard to the intended cessation of operations.

Rather than abandon its system, the UTU told the STB that Manufacturers, in its own press release, had said it intended, in fact, to transfer those rail operations to a third party that would operate over the railway’s tracks and yard, which would remain under Manufacturers Railway and Anheuser-Busch ownership.

“It is clear,” said the UTU, that Anheuser-Busch intends the transaction as “a means to get around the labor protection which should rightly be imposed,” and that Anheuser-Busch “stands to benefit financially from this transaction by contracting out the rail switching operations and reducing its labor expense.”

The STB agreed, and ruled that so-called Oregon Short Line labor protection be granted as a condition of the discontinuance of operations by Manufacturers Railway.

The protection provides for six years of income protection – as opposed to a guarantee of employment — for all adversely affected employees of Manufacturers Railway.