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A BLET member working a conductor assignment on Norfolk Southern was killed in a conventional shoving movement accident in Kankakee, Ill., Feb. 8; and a UTU member conductor is hospitalized in critical condition following a fall from a bridge into a frigid river in Covington, Va., Feb. 8 while working a switching move on CSX.

A fellow UTU member is being hailed a hero in saving the UTU conductor’s life.

Killed in the Kankakee accident was BLET member and engineer Stanley Watts, age 43, with five years seniority, who was working a conductor job as part of a three-person switch crew at a flat yard. Remote control was not involved.

A preliminary Federal Railroad Administration report said Watts was “crushed” between a car he was riding and another car. Kankakee is some 60 miles south of Chicago.

This was the first railroad on-duty fatality in 2011, according to the Federal Railroad Administration. There were 20 railroad on-duty fatalities in 2010 — eight of them UTU members.

In Covington, Va., about 60 miles northwest of Roanoke, Local 623 member Alvin Boguess, age 24, fell some 50 feet from a CSX bridge into the Jackson River while part of a three-person crew switching cars into a Westvaco paper mill around 7 p.m. Feb. 8. Remote control was not involved.

According to reports, the train’s switchman and Local 623 member Dale Smith, age 48, scrambled down an embankment and into the frigid water, risking his own life, to rescue Boguess, who was face down in the river. Smith is being treated for hypothermia, and Boguess was airlifted to a Roanoke hospital, where his condition is reported as critical.

Boguess signed on with CSX in December 2008, while Smith signed on in November 2008.

WASHINGTON — The senior Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, introduced legislation Feb. 8 to reduce the rail route miles over which positive train control (PTC) must be implemented before January 2016.

Senate co-sponsors include John Thune (R-S.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).

The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 mandated PTC be installed, and the Federal Railroad Administration followed with a regulation ordering PTC to be installed on some 73,000 miles of track — those carrying passengers and freight cars containing toxic inhalation hazard chemicals — by Dec. 31, 2015.

PTC is a collision-avoidance overlay system for locomotives, using global positioning satellites and computer software.

In a Jan. 8 press release, Hutchison said her legislation is not intended to roll back the congressional mandate, but rather reduce the number of track miles on which PTC must be installed.

“Traffic patterns for shipping toxic chemicals are changing,” Hutchison said. “This means that at least 10,000 route miles used to move chemicals in 2008 are no longer expected to transport these products in 2015.”

The proposed legislation follows a visit by railroad CEOs in late January to officials of the Obama administration, in which they reportedly said they are in the process of concentrating toxic inhalation hazards on fewer miles of track, and that the PTC mandate should affect traffic patterns expected in 2015 rather than traffic patterns in 2008.

Hutchison called the FRA’s PTC mandate “an example of regulatory excess that is costing America’s businesses billions of dollars with no obvious benefits. We must rein in the regulatory bureaucracy in order to unleash innovation and investment and spur job growth,” Hutchison said. “This commonsense bill would reduce compliance costs without impacting the safety or security of our country’s rail lines.

“By requiring the use of the 2015 traffic patterns, this bill will do much to address the mistakes made by the FRA in implementing this mandate,” Hutchison said.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is pushing for a six-year, $53 billion investment in high-speed, higher-speed and expanded passenger rail service, but a fight is brewing with congressional Republicans.

An initial $8 billion in funding for these rail projects is expected to be included in the president’s fiscal year 2012 budget request that will be transmitted to Congress next week.

Vice President Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood lifted the curtain on the proposal Feb. 8 at a Philadelphia press conference, announcing the Obama administration wants the $53 billion focused on three areas of development:

  • Core express that will develop electrified high-speed trains operating between 125 and 250 mph on dedicated track reserved for these trains.
  • Regional trains that will operate between 90 and 125 mph.
  • Emerging rail where trains will operate up to 90 mph — intended to expand rail service to regions of the nation not currently served.

No specifics were provided.

Said Biden: “As a longtime Amtrak rider and advocate, I understand the need to invest in a modern rail system that will help connect communities, reduce congestion and create quality, skilled manufacturing jobs that cannot be outsourced.”

Republican leaders were quick to respond — and not positively. Congressional approval of the Obama administration rail plan must begin with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The committee’s chairman, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), and the chairman of the Rail Subcommittee, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), called the administration’s rail plan equivalent to “giving Bernie Madoff another chance at handling your investment portfolio.” Madoff is serving a 150-year jail term, having been convicted of what was called the largest investor fraud in U.S. history.

Mica and Shuster criticized the Obama administration’s rail policies, alleging “the Federal Railroad Administration is neither a capable grant agency, nor should it be involved in the selection of projects.”

They said that what the Obama administration so far has “touted as high-speed rail ended up as embarrassing snail-speed trains to nowhere.”

Mica said he would prefer federal money to be spent on the federally owned Northeast Corridor, operated by Amtrak, which he called “the most congested corridor in the nation.” The Northeast Corridor connects Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Boston.

Federal spending on passenger-rail projects, some of which will benefit freight railroads, is part of a broad jobs-creation initiative of the Obama administration. In his State of the Union message in January, Obama spoke of providing high-speed rail access to 80 percent of Americans within 25 years.

During 2010, the administration, through the Federal Railroad Administration, awarded $10.5 billion in federal grants to 15 state for rail projects. Two of the states — Ohio and Wisconsin, both with Republican governors — rejected the federal money, saying their states couldn’t afford to pay for the bulk of the projects’ costs and the expected future operating subsidies.

Included in the $10.5 billion grants in 2010 was $2.3 billion toward a $40 billion, 800-mile California high-speed rail project intended to link Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego; and $1.25 billion toward a $2.3 billion, 84-mile Florida high-speed rail project intended to link Tampa with Orlando (and, eventually, Miami). Mica, from Florida, has not opposed that Florida project outright, but said he wants to see the private sector commit at least $300 million to the project before it moves forward.

If a congressionally ordered railroad risk reduction program is to be effective, the Federal Railroad Administration must include railroad employees and their labor unions in the process of evaluating and managing the program.

That is the message seven rail labor organizations sent to the FRA Feb. 8 in response to an earlier FRA notice of proposed rulemaking implementing a risk reduction program.

The program was ordered by Congress in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (RSIA). Its purpose is to reduce the consequences and rates of railroad accidents, incidents, injuries and fatalities.

The UTU was joined by the American Train Dispatchers Association, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and Transport Workers Union in commenting to the FRA.

Congress specifically concluded that having railroads “unilaterally decide issues of safety would not be in the public interest,” the UTU and the other labor organizations told the FRA. Yet, the notice of proposed rulemaking “undermines” that congressional intent.

To ensure an effective risk reduction program, the FRA must solicit rail labor input and participation, said the labor organizations. Specific to train and engine workers, such participation must include:

  • Technology implementation.
  • Fatigue management.
  • Risks posed by joint operations, including passenger and commuter trains.
  • Security risks.
  • National Transportation Safety Board recommendations.
  • Disclosure of all carrier bonus, incentive and compensation systems that reward management employees for meeting or exceeding safety related goals, targets, benchmarks or milestones.
  • Disclosure of policies and data related to waiver and discipline practices that in any way discourage accurate reporting of accidents, incidents, injuries or close calls.

The labor organizations also asked the FRA to develop historical data on the following:

  • Number of disciplinary charges filed for rule violations.
  • Number of whistle-blower cases filed by employees.
  • Number of employee dismissals.
  • Number of FRA reportable injuries.
  • Number of meet and confer sessions related to safety.
  • Safety records of regional and shortline railroads.
  • Retaliation, intimidation and overall culture, attitude and policy toward safety reporting by employees.
  • Safety incentive programs and policies that create peer pressure within work groups not to report injuries in order to preserve incentive prizes.
  • A carrier’s past response to risk, hazards, defects, near misses and safety complaints reported by employees.
  • The effectiveness of operating rules and practices in risk reduction.
  • The effectiveness of safety and training programs.

Additionally, the labor organizations asked the FRA to “pay particular attention to railroads that regularly intimidate employees to cut corners [and] hold formal hearings and discipline employees whenever accidents or injuries are reported.”

The process for evaluating and managing a risk reduction program must also include direct employee input, said the labor organizations. “There is no substitute for interviewing employees actually doing the work,” and such interviews should mask the identity of employees to ensure “they may speak freely.”

Of special importance to train and engine workers is the implementation of a fatigue management plan. “A human being cannot possibly be rested to work safely unless that human being knows when they must report for service,” said the labor organizations. “Often, safety critical employees are forced to report for service even when fatigued, or [they] face disciplinary hearings and loss of employment.

“We encourage the FRA to take immediate action to require 10 hours of advance notification for all operating employees not otherwise on assignments with defined start times,” said the labor organizations.

To read the comments of the seven labor organizations, click here.

To read the FRA’s earlier notice of proposed rulemaking, click on the following link:

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2010-12-08/pdf/2010-30836.pdf

Amtrak has proposed a plan to build two new tunnels under the Hudson River linking New Jersey and New York City.

The tunnel project would also include replacement and expansion of the 100-year-old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River in New Jersey between Kearny and Secaucus.

Amtrak President Joseph Boardman proposes investing $50 million to begin preliminary engineering and design studies for what will be called the Gateway Project.

To complete the project by 2020 would require a budget of $13.5 billion. Amtrak said it will take the lead in developing funding, which could come from federal, state, regional, local and private sources.

If constructed, the two new tunnels would substantially boost Amtrak and New Jersey Transit commuter train peak-period capacity into and out of New York City.

The existing 100-year-old rail tunnels into midtown Manhattan operate at capacity during rush hour, and ridership is projected to double over the next two decades, according to transportation studies.

The project has the backing of New Jersey Democratic Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, and New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer.

“The Gateway Project is essential to the future growth and economic development of the entire Northeast region and will provide for greater capacity, connectivity and convenience for Amtrak and commuter passengers in the heart of Manhattan,” Boardman said. “It is a critical first step that we can take now to bring 220 mph Amtrak high-speed service to the Northeast Corridor.”

The new plan follows cancellation late in 2010 by New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie of a somewhat similar tunnel project. Christie, who called the project too expensive for New Jersey taxpayers, returned federal stimulus funds that were to assist with the project.

Click on the following link to read more about the project:

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/assets/Gateway.pdf

The following statement was released Jan. 7 by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Steven M. Dettelbach:

“An information has been filed charging Robert L. (Pete) McKinney, age 59, of Houston, Texas, with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery in federally funded programs. He is accused of paying cash bribes to two high-ranking officials in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET).

“Corruption in organized labor will not be tolerated. Today’s filing demonstrates our commitment to prosecuting all those involved, whether they are the self-dealing union official or a licensed attorney seeking union business.

“The information charges that McKinney paid bribes to railroad union officials, including the union president, seeking to represent injured union members. McKinney was a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney, specializing in representing injured railroad workers.

“McKinney practiced at the law firm of McKinney and McKinney, LLP, located in Houston, Texas. Edward W. Rodzwicz served as national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. The BLET represents more than 55,000 members and in 2004 merged with, and is now a division of, the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

“BLET Official No. 1 [not named by the U.S. attorney] served as special representative. As special representative, BLET Official No. 1 was assigned to recruit non-union railroad workers for membership in BLET.

“BLET Official No. 1 reported directly to Rodzwicz. The BLET’s members, who are employed by common carriers by railroad, are covered by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), which provides for recovery of damages by railroad employees and their survivors. In order to facilitate the retention of qualified and experienced FELA attorneys by its injured members, the BLET maintains a list of designated attorneys who are held out to its members as competent and professional FELA attorneys.

“The members of this list are referred to as designated legal counsel. Designation status on the DLC list provides a FELA attorney with valuable access to BLET members as potential clients, and to local BLET officials as sources of information and referrals concerning accidents and workers.

“The BLET affirmatively recommends the DLC attorneys to its members for FELA-related and other business. As national president, Rodzwicz had authority over the designation status of DLC attorneys.

“The information states that from in or about June 2006, and continuing until in or about October 2009, McKinney conspired with Edward W. Rodzwicz and BLET Official No. 1 to unjustly enrich Edward W. Rodzwicz and BLET Official No. 1 by paying them cash bribes in order to be placed on the DLC list for BLET workers and to have BLET workers directed to his firm. The conspirators referred to these payments as campaign contributions in an effort to conceal the true nature of the payments.

“The information states that the conspirators accomplished this by meeting in a hotel parking lot where McKinney delivered large cash payments to BLET Official No. 1. McKinney would also have large sums of cash delivered to BLET Official No. 1 at BLET conventions. Edward W. Rodzwicz and BLET Official No. 1 would then split the cash payments, according to the information.

“Rodzwicz, formerly of Avon, Ohio, is currently in federal prison for his role in an unrelated crime. If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

“This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Justin J. Roberts and Bridget M. Brennan, following an investigation by the Cleveland offices of the U.S. Department of Labor, OIG Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri also provided assistance.

“An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

UTU Local 367 represented employees of Nebraska Central Railroad, which includes all crafts, have ratified a wage, rules and working conditions agreement with an 80 percent plurality.

The five-year agreement provides for a signing bonus, wage increases, a minimum-hours guarantee and improved working conditions.

Assisting Local 367 in the negotiations were UTU International Vice President John Previsich, Union Pacific General Chairperson Rich Draskovich and Union Pacific Vice General Chairperson Brent Leonard (both, GO 953).

The three praised the efforts of Local 367 Chairperson Brandon Glendy in determining member concerns prior to negotiations, and then assisting with negotiations and explaining to members the tentative agreement prior to its overwhelming ratification.

Nebraska Central Railroad operates entirely in Nebraska over 340 miles of former BNSF and Union Pacific track.

The local lost one of its members in June 2010 when 38-year-old conductor Jeffrey Scholl died in the collapse of a railroad bridge into the flood-swollen Elkhorn River. Two other members of Local 367 were injured in the bridge collapse.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats and Republicans have finalized appointments to the Senate Banking Committee, which is responsible for legislation affecting mass transit. Committee chairman is Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).

 Democrats:

Tim Johnson (S.D.), chairman
Daniel Akaka (Hawaii)
Michael Bennet (Colo.)
Sherrod Brown (Ohio)
Kay Hagan (N.C.)

Herb Kohl (Wisc.)
Robert Menendez (N.J.)
Jeff Merkley (Ore.)
Jack Reed (R.I.)
Charles Schumer (N.Y.)

Jon Tester (Mont.)
Mark Warner (Va.)

 Republicans:

Richard Shelby (Ala.), ranking
Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Bob Corker (Tenn.)
Jim DeMint (S.C.)
Mike Johanns (Neb.)

Mark Kirk (Ill.)
Jerry Moran (Kans.)
Patrick Toomey (Pa.)
David Vitter (La.)
Roger Wicker (Miss.)

To view other Senate and House committee assignments of importance to UTU members, click on the following link:

https://www.smart-union.org/td/washington/

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats and Republicans have finalized appointments to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Legislation affecting retirement, labor law and workplace issues are under the initial jurisdiction of this committee, which is chaired by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

Democrats:

Tom Harkin (Iowa), chairman
Michael Bennet (Colo.)
Jeff Bingaman (N.M.)
Richard Blumenthal (Conn.)
Robert Casey (Pa.)

Al Franken (Minn.)
Jeff Merkley (Ore.)
Barbara Mikulski (Md.)
Patty Murray (Wash.)
Bernard Sanders (Vt.)
Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.)

Republicans:

Michael Enzi (Wyo.), ranking
Lamar Alexander (Tenn.)
Richard Burr (N.C.)
Orrin Hatch (Utah)
Johnny Isakson (Ga.)

Mark Kirk (Ill.)
John McCain (Ariz.)
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Rand Paul (Ky.)
Pat Roberts (Kans.)

To view other Senate and House committee assignments of importance to UTU members, click on the following link:

https://www.smart-union.org/td/washington/

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats and Republicans have finalized appointments to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

Most transportation legislation moving through the Senate affecting air, bus and rail safety and economic regulation is under the initial jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.).

Most transit legislation is the responsibility of the Senate Banking Committee.

Democrats

Jay Rockefeller (W. Va.), chairman
Mark Begich (Alaska)
Barbara Boxer (Calif.)
Maria Cantwell (Wash.)
Daniel Inoye (Hawaii)

John Kerry (Mass.)
Amy Klobucher (Minn.)
Frank Lautenberg (N.J.)
Claire McCaskill (Mo.)
Bill Nelson (Fla.)

Mark Pryor (Ark.)
Tom Udall (N.M.)
Mark Warner (Va.)

Republicans:

Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), ranking
Kelly Ayotte (N.H.)
Roy Blunt (Mo.)
Jim DeMint (S.C.)
John Ensign (Nev.)

Johnny Isakson (Ga.)
Marko Rubio (Fla.)
Olympia Snowe (Maine)
John Thune (S.D.)
Patrick Toomey (Pa.)
Roger Wicker (Miss.)

To view Senate and other House committee assignments of importance to UTU members, click on the following link:

www.utu.org/worksite/washington/congress_2011.cfm